Jean Capart Primitive Art in Egypt

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PRIMITIVK ARTIN

EGYPT



PRIMITIVE ARTIN

EGYPTBY

JEAN CAPARTKEEPER OF THE EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES OF THE ROYAL MUSEUM, BRUSSELS

LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LIEGE

TRANSLATED FROM THE REVISED

AND AUGMENTED ORIGINAL EDITION

BY

A. S. GRIFFITH

WITH 208 ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

H. GREVEL & CO.

S3, KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W .C.

1905



PRINTED AND BOUND BY

HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,

LONDON AND AYLESBURY.



XLO

PROFESSOR W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE

A TOKEN OF PROFOUND GRATITUDE





viii PREFACE.

the publications ot two English societies, the Egypt

Exploration Fund and the Egyptian Research Account;

from their pages I have gathered a large number of facts

of the greatest importance.

I owe very special gratitude to Professor Petrie, who,

with his habitual courtesy, has for more than five years

permitted me to study and to photograph the relics of

primitive Egypt, gathered together in his collection at

University College, London. I cannot express how much

I am indebted to him for the lessons in Egyptian archaeo-

logy that I have received from him at the yearly exhibition

of the Egypt Exploration Fund. If my book is of a

nature to render

any

assistance to students, it is in the first

instance to Professor Petrie that thanks are due.

Two visits to Oxford have enabled me to complete my

collection of notes and of photographic reproduction. I

am happy to have this opportunity of thanking Mr. Evans

and Mr. Bell for their generous reception of me at the

Ashmolean Museum.

Owing to the kindness of Professors Erman and

Shafer, I have been able to utilise much unpublished

material from the Berlin Museum. I i>'ladlv avail mvself

of this opportunity of offering them my sincere thanks.

The cordial hospitality received from the Rev. W.

Macgregor has enabled me to draw attention to a number

of important pieces in his fine collection of Egyptian

antiquities at Bolehill Manor House, Tarnworth.



PREFACE. ix

The Egypt Exploration Fund, the editorial staff of the

German review Die Umschau. and theSociety

of Biblical

Archaeology, London, have been good enough to place

several photographic reproductions at my disposal.

It is also a pleasant duty to express my warm thanks

to Miss Griffith for the admirable manner in which

she has accomplished the task of translating this book.

AUDERGHEM, December 1904.



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Preliminary ConsiderationsPAGE

I

Chapter II. Personal Adornment

Painting the Body

Painting the Eyes

Tattooing

Mutilations

The Hair

Combs and Pins

Wigs

Beards

Face-veils

Ornaments

Shells

Beads

Pendants

Bracelets

Rings

Clothing

Girdles

Tail

Karnata

Animal's Skin

Loin-cloth

Mantle .

Chapter III. Ornamental and Decorative Art

Generalities .......Transformation of a Natural Design into a Geometric

Designs derived from Technique

Transformation of a Useful Object into an Ornament

xi

J) sign

21

21

23

30

34

35

40

42

43

45

47

^7

47

48

49

50

52

52

54

54

55

56

56

59

59

60

f'3

64



Xll ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTEXTS.

Chapter III. {continued).

Object

of Decoration

Art .

Information

Luxury and Power

Religion and Magic

Knives

Spoons

Combs

Pins

PendantsPalettes .

Incised Palettes

Maces and Sceptres

Stone Vases

Skeuomorphic Decorations

Human Decorations

Animal Decorations

Stone Vases of Fantastic Forms

Pottery.

-

.

Basket Work and Matting

Pottery copied from Plaited Work

„ „ „ Hard Stone

„ „ „ Gourds .

\V^hite Painted Vases

Floral Designs

Representations of Human Figures

„ ,,Animals

,, ,,Boats

Decorated Pottery .

„ ,,in Imitation of Hard Stones

„ „ „ „ „ Plaited Work

Representations of Mountains .

„ „ Plants

,, ,,Animals

„ ,,Human Beings

,, ,,Boats .

,, Various

Vases decorated with Figures in Relief

,,with Decoration inside .

„ „ Incised Decoration

„ of Fantastic Forms

65

65

65

66

66

67

71

72

75

7677

82

94

95

98

98

99

[OI

[03

[04

108

108

[08

[08

to9

10

10

12

13

14

15

16

16

i7

19

20

21

22

25

26

26



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. Xlll

Chapter III. {continued').

Vases of Human Forms.

,, ,,Animal Forms .

Decorated Boxes

Furniture and Personal Property

The Hearth

Ivory Carvings

Pottery Marks

Primitive Hieroglyphs Alphabetiform

Characters

Cylinders

Chapter IV. Sculpture and Painting

Flints of Animal Forms

Human Statuettes

Men

Women

Dwarfs

Captives .

Servants .

Vases in form of Human Figures

Figures of Animals

Hippopotami

Lions

Dogs

Apes

Cattle

Quadrupeds

—Various

Birds

Fish

Crocodiles

Scorpions

Frogs

Griffins

Bulls' Head Amulets

Double Bulls .

Magical Instruments with Human FBoats

Houses .

Fortified P^nclosure

Sculptures in Relief

Drawing and Painting

gures

PAGE

28

33

[35

'39

[42

t5i

'52

^52

54

f55

t6o

72

72

74

75

[76

76

178

183

'85

[88

189

[90

191

[92

[92

[92

'93

195

196

199

200

201

201

202



xiv ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter IV. {lontinued).

Graffiti

Painted Tomb of Hierakonpolis

Boats ....Animals ....Men ....

Object of Paintings and of Graffiti

Chapter V. The Earliest Pharaonic Monuments

Archaic Statues of Koptos

„ Statue of Hierakonpolis

Votive Palettes

First Cairo Fragment

Fragments at the British Museum and the Iôuvre

Small Palette of Hierakonpolis .

Louvre Palette.....Small Fragment at the British Museum

Second Cairo Fragment .

PYagments at the British Museum and Ashmolean

Fragment at the Louvre .

Great Palette of Hierakonpolis .

Small Fragment at the Louvre .

Votive Mace- heads of Hierakonpolis

Ivory and Wooden Plaques

Plaque of the Chief of the Anou

Private and Royal Stelae from Abydos

Statues of Libyans .

CairoStatue, No.

I.

Archaic Statues

Statues of King Khasakhmui

Hierakonpolis Lion .

Figure of Cheops

Chapter VL Dancing, Music, and Poetry

Generalities ......Dancing.......Music

.......Poetry .......Chapter VII. Conclusions

Index



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Fig. I. The Geese of Medum

2. The Geese of Medum ........3. Fragment of one of the Panels of Hosi. From a photograph

by Petrie . . . . . . .

4. Fragment of one of the Panels of Hosi....5. Figure of a Woman with Designs painted over the Whole Body

Grey clay with black paint ......6. Figures of Women. University College, London. Grey clay

with greenish paint

7. Slate Palettes used for Grinding Paint

8. Ivory Box in Form of a Duck ..... *

9.Tatoo-marks of the Primitive Egyptians compared with those ol

the Libyans. From VAnthropologie ....ID. Libyans from the Tomb of Seti I

11. Fragment of a Statuette with Tatoo-marks on the Breast and

Right Shoulder. Cabmet des Medailles, Paris

12. Wooden Statuette in the Bologna Museum, with Ivory Pâr

ornaments .........13. Pottery Vase with Designs in White representing Men fighting

14. Ivory Statuette. A crouching captive .....15. Figure of a Woman in Glazed Pottery. Discovered at Abydos

16. Ostrich Eggs. From Naqada and Hu .....17. Combs and a Pin, decorated with Animal and Bird Figures .

18. Band of False Hair. From the Tomb of King Zer

ig. Head of one of the Libyans from the Tomb of Seti I. .

20. Figure from the MacGregor Collection

.....21. Ornaments for the Forehead

22. Pendants .......•••23. Bone and Ivory Bracelets, and a Spoon with a Handle in Form

of an Arm wearing a Series of Similar Bracelets

24. Ivory Rings ......••.•XV

PAGE

7

6

7

24

25

28

33

36

37

38

40

41

42

43

44

46

48



xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Fig. 25. Huntsman. Wearing a feather on his head, and the tail fixed to

his girdle 54

,,26. Warriors. Clothed in a panther skin, or holding a shield formed

of a similar skin

„ 27. Figures of Women. Wrapped in cloaks, one of which is decorated

Below are fragments of leather with painted decoration

,,28. Evolution of the Representation of the Alligator in Ancient

Columbian Art. From Holmes .....,, 29. Evolution of the Representation of the Human Figure in Poly

nesian Art. From Haddon ......„ 30. Tortoise-shell Ornaments from Torres Straits, in imitation of the

Fish-Hook(a).

From Haddon

,, 31. Magical Decoration on a Comb of a Malacca Tribe. From

Haddon ..........,, 32. Flint Knife, worked and retouched on both Faces. Brussel

Museum; length, 25 cm........

,, 33. Gold Leaf with Incised Designs, sewn on to one end of a largi

Flint Knife to form the Handle .....,, 34. Figures of Women and of a Boat on a gold Knife-handle

,,

35. IvoryKnife-handle in the Pitt-Rivers Collection .

,, 36. Ivory Knife-handle. Petrie Collection .....,, 37. Small Flint Knife with Ivory Handle. Petrie collection

,, 38. Fragment of an Ivory Knife-handle with a Figure of an Antelope

Berlin Museum ......,, 39. Ivory Spoon-handles

„ 40. Ivory Combs with Human Figures. Petrie Collection

,, 41. Ivory Combs with Figures of Antelopes and Giraffes

,, 42. Ivory Combs with Figures of Birds

,, 43. Ivory Comb with the Figure of an Antelope and Ornamentsderived from Bird Forms ......

,, 44. Ivory Comb, Recto. Davis Collection .....,, 45. Ivory Comb, Verso ........,, 46. Ivory Pius decorated with Figures of Birds and a Bull's Head

,, 47. Slate and Ivory Pendants .......,, 48. Slate and Ivory Pendants decorated with Derived Designs .

,, 49. Stone and Ivory Pendants with Incised Line Decoration

„ 50. Plaque in the Berlin Museum (Recto). Shell (?) .

,, 51. Pla(]ue in the Berlin Museum (Verso). Shell (?) .

,, 52. Palette with a Human Figure at the Top ....,, 53. Palette with the Figure of an Antelope, the Head missing .

,, 54. Palette in Form of Antelopes. ......,, 55. Palettes in Form of Elephants and Hippopotami .

,, 55A. Palette in Form of a Lion. MacGregor Collection

56

S7

61

63

65

66

67

68

69

7071

72

73

74

75

75

76

n78

78

79

80

81

82

83

83

84

84

85

86

87



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xvu

Fig



XVIIl LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Fig. 95-

„ 96.

,. 97-

„ 98.

„ 99-

,, 100.

„ 101.

,,102.

„ 103.

., 104.

„ 105.

„ 106.

„ 107.

„ 108.

,, log.

,,1 10.

M III.

,,112.

n 113-

,. 114.

„ 115-

„ 116.

„ 117.

„ 118.

„ 119.

„ 120.

„ 121.

1T 1

n 123.

,, 124.

u 125.

,, 126.

n 127.

„ 128.

„ 129.

„ 130.

u 131-

,. 132.

.. '33-

and

Rare

aited

Decorated Vase irom Abadiyeh .....Vase

withRepresentations

ofGiraffes, Ostriches, Crocodiles

Snakes. Berhn Museum . . . .

Decorated Vases with Designs in Relief and Other

Ornamentations .......Black-topped Pottery with Figures in Relief

Vase of Black-topped Pottery with an Incised Decoration inside

Rough-faced Pottery with Incised Decorations

Black Polished Vase in Form of a Woman .

Clay Vases in Form of Animals .....Clay Vases in Form of Birds

.....Clay Vase in Form of a Vulture .....Pottery Boxes with Various Designs ....Clay Fire-places decorated with Designs in Imitation of P

Work

Ivory Feet for Furniture, in the Shape of Bulls' Legs .

Fragments of Ivory carved with Various Figures .

Fragments of Ivory Objects carved with Various Designs

Carved Ivory Cylinders ......Pottery Marks

........Hieroglyphic (?) Signs of the Prehistoric Period .

Table of Alphabetiform

'

Signs.....Impressions taken from Cylinders ....Worked Flints in Form of Animals . . .

•.

Worked Flint in Form of an Antelope (Bubalis). Berlin M

Worked Flint in Form of a Wild Goat. Berlin Museum

Worked Flint in Form of a Wild Barbary Sheep.

Museum. ........Figures of Men of the Primitive Period

Ivory Figures of Men discovered at Hierakonpolis

Ivory Heads discovered at Hierakonpolis

Ivory Statuette from Abydos .....Steatopygous Clay Figures. Ashmolean Museum

Steatopygous Clay Figures. Ashmolean Museum

.Steatopygous Figure in Clay (complete). Berlin Museum

Clay Female Figure. University College, London

Female Figure in Vegetable Paste. Berlin Museum .

Female Figures in Pottery, Ivory, Lead, and Vegetable Paste

Female Figures in Ivory. MacGregor Collection

Figure of a Woman carrying a C'iiiid on her Siioulders

Ivory Figure of a Woman carrying a C'hild. Berlin Museum

Ivory Figures discovered at Hierakonpolis .

Ivory Figures discovered at Hierakonpolis .

useum

Berlin

pac;e

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

134

135

136

137

138

141

'45

147

150

153

'54

'55

155

156

157

158

159

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XIX

'34-

135-

136.

'37-

138.

139.

140.

141.

i4-\

'43-

[44.

145-

146.

147.

[4.S.

149-

[50.

,1.

152.

153-

154-

55-

156.

57-

158.

59.

160.

161.

162.

.63.

164.

165.

166.

167.

i68.

1 69.

170.

171.

Small I'igure in Lapis-lazuli I'rom Hierakonpolis .

IvoF}^ Figuresof Dwarfs

.....Figures of a Woman standing in a Large Jar

Vases in Form of Women .....Figures of Hippopotami in Clay, Glazed I'ottery, and .Stone

Hippopotamus in Black and White Granite

.Small Figures of Lions. University College, London

Small Figures of Lions .....Limestone Statue of a Lion from Kojjtos

Ivory Carvings of a Dog and of a Lion from Abydos. Brussels

Museum

.......Figures of Dogs .......Part of an Ivory Figure of a Dog....Natural Flints roughly worked to represent Baboons

Figures of Monkeys ......I'îgures of Cattle and Pigs. Ashmolean Museuni

Camel's Head in Clay, found at Hierakonpolis .

Figures of Birds and of Griffins ....Figures of Frogs and of ,Scor])ions

Bull's Head Amulet in Ivory. ]5erliii Museum.

Bull's Head Amulets

Double Bull's Head Amulets. Hilton Price Collectio

Magical Instruments(?)

in Ivory ....Magical Instrument made of Horn, from Katanga. University

College, London ......Models of Boats in Clay and Ivory

Pottery Boat witii Figures of Men. Berlin Museum

Clay Model of a House discovered at El Amrah .

Clay Model of a Fortified Enclosure .

Graffiti from the Rocks of Upper Egypt

Paintings on the Primitive Tomb of Hierakonpolis

Paintings on the Primitive Tomb of Hierakonpolis

.Standards on tiie Primiti\e Boats

Gazelles caught in a Trap and Religious ('. ') Representations

From the painted tomb of Hierakonpolis

Statues of the god Min discovered at Koptos

Hammered Designs on the Archaic .Statues of the God I\liii

Archaic Statue discovered at Hierakonpolis. Asinnuleai

Museum, Oxford ......Fragment of a Slate Palette, ( airo Museum

.Slate Palette with Hunting Scenes. Louvre and British Museum

Slate Palette with Representations of Animals (Recto). 0.\ford

Slate Palette with Representations of Animals (Verso). Oxford

172

173

174

175

177

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

185

187

188

189

191

193

194

196

197

198

199

200

201

202

204

208

209

210

211

O '> -^

2:5

227

229

232

233



XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Fig



CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINAR Y CONSIDERATIONS.

^^HEextreme antiquity of Egyptian civilization lends a very

special attraction to the study of its productions. Our

minds are so constituted that, reaching back into the past, we

welcome every fresh clue that will guide us to the starting-

point whence we can trace the first feeble steps taken by man

on paths which have led to more or less brilliant civilization.

From this point of view Egypt has proved itself to be a

mine of information. Its numerous monuments of antiquity

witness to the existence of an advanced art at a period when

the rest of the world was still plunged in the deepest barbarism.

Until the last few years, however, Egypt has not satisfied our

curiosity ;she only rendered it more intense from day to day,

setting before us a riddle the solution of which appeared un-

attainable. At the time of her first appearance in history, at

about the commencement of the fourth dynast}-, she already

possessed a civilization which was practically fixed and complete.

Language, writing, administration, cults, ceremonies, etc.— all of

these we found already established, and it was rarely that we

could observe traces here and there of what may be st}-led

archaism. One might suppose, as did Chabas, that about iour

thousand years would be necessary to allow for the dexelopment

of such a civilization. Four thousand years, he says,

is a

period of time sufficient for the development of an intelligent

race. If v/c were watching the progress of transitional races, it

would perhaps not be enough. In an\- case this figure makes

no pretensions to exactitude;

its only merit is that it lends itself

to the exigencies of all facts which are known uj) to the present

I



PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. 5

accept any other explanation. So far as it was possible to trace

back to the earliest dynasties, their productions rarely presented

traces of archaism, and only peculiar circumstances, such as the

presence of a king's name, permitted certain bas-reliefs to be

attributed to a period anterior to the fourth dynasty. It is true

that the museums of Europe and Egypt contained certain rude

statues, which might be dated as belonging to the period of the

three first d\'nasties;

but the attention of scholars was never

seriously drawn to them, and it is only in quite recent years

that their true character has begun to be recognized.^

Recently, however, a series of important discoveries has

changed the current of research. Professor P'linders Petrie

discovered first at Koptos, in 1893, some roughly-worked statues

of the god J//'//, on which were carved, in very low relief,

singular figures of animals, of mountains, and an archaic form

of hieroglyph employed to write the name of the god Min. At

the same time pottery was found of a peculiar type, which had

previously been known only in rare specimens, which could not

be correctly dated.

The following year, Dr. Petrie, aided by Mr. Quibell, found

in the neighbourhood of Naqada an enormous necropolis, where

similar pottery to that found at Koptos, at the same time as the

statues of Min, was extremely abundant. Researches carried out

simultaneously by M. de Morgan proved that they were dealing with

prehistoric cemeteries. I cannot attempt to enter here into details

of these excavations, as I have recently given an account of them

in an article in the Revue de r Ujiiversite de Bruxelles? I will

content myself with mentioning the principal ex'cnts which

followed the publication of that work. During the winter 1898-99,

Professor Petrie and his fellow workers explored various prehistoric

cemeteries at Abadiych and llu. These discoveries, b\' supple-

menting those at Naqada, afforded material for establishing in

^

Berlin, ]5olngna, Brussels, Cairo, Leyden, London, Naples, Paris, Turin.

See C'ArARP, Rccueil dc fuoiiiimefiis cgyplicns, Brussels, 1902. Remarks 011

plates ii. and iii.

-

Petrie, Koptos, London, 1893.^Capaut, Aotes sur Ics ori<^/7tes de VEgyptc d'apri-s Us foidUcs rcccntcs, in

the Revue de V UiiiversUc de Biuxelles, iv. 189CS-9, pp. 105-139, tig.and pi.



6 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

a preliminary fashion the main outlines of prehistoric Egypt. At

the same time, Mr. Ouibell and Mr. Green found (1897-8-9) on the

site of the ancient temple of Hierakonpolis an important series

of objects, dating from the commencement of the historic period,

which, in a manner, formed the bridge between Egypt of historic

and of prehistoric age.

These results were confirmed in the following year by the

excavations of Professor Petrie in the royal tombs of the first

dynasties at Abydos, which shortly before had been negligently

LFig.

3.- -Frag.ment of one of the Panels of Hosi.

From a photograph by Petrie.

explored by M. Amelineau. Finally, the excavations in the

temenos of the temple of Osiris at Abydos (1901-2-3), in addition

to other discoveries, brought to light a small prehistoric town, which

provided the necessary materials for a complete and incontestable

welding together of prehistoric Egypt and the historical dynasties.

Other excavations carried out at l^l-Ahuiwah and Naga-cd-Dcr,^

' The result of these excavations is not yet publisiied. A short note by

Dr. Reisner will be found in the Ardiaological Report of the Egypt I'.xploration

Fund, 1900-1901, pp. 23-25 and 2 ])lates.




under the direction of Dr. Reisner, for the University of Cahfornia,

and also at El Amrah by Mr. Maclver and Mr. Wilkin, completed

the information already acquired relating to the primitive period.

The evidence thus acquired supplied us with much interesting

information concerning the primitive inhabitants of Egypt, and

it was at once recognized that it was possible, more especially

in the rituals, to discover many vestiges of that civilization to

which the archaic cemeteries bear witness. The general con-

clusions to be drawn from these discoveries as a whole are, that

• IG. 4. • KAl.Mt.NT Ol' ONE UF THE 1'ANEI.S OF

From a photograph by Petrie.

llosi.

there was a civilization anterior to the Pharaonic civilization, and

that this civilization produced works of art.

We must here mention the principal works in which the results

of excavations were published. Most of these are in English, and

are simply reports of excavatitnis of cemeteries. The most

important arc : Naqada} Diospolis ; The Royal Tombs of the First

'

Naqada and Ballas, 1895, by VV. M. Flinders Petrie c vr J.F. Ouihell,

with chapter by F. C. J. Spurrell, London, Oiiaritch, 1896. ^

Diospolis Parva, the Cemeteries uf Abadiyeh and lift, 189S-9, by W. M.




Dynasties'^ (i.and ii.), Abydos'- (i.

andii.),

due to Petrie;

Hierakonpolis ^ (i.and

ii.), published by Mr. Quibell and Mr.

Green; and, finally, El Ainrali^ gives the results of the excava-

tions by Mr. Maclver and Mr. Wilkin in the cemetery at that

locality.

In addition to these books, each of which constitutes a

monograph on a prehistoric cemetery, a work by M. de Morgan

must be mentioned, entitled RechercJics sur Ics on'giiics de l' Egypte.^

This is the only book in French which has been published on

the subject. Unfortunately it appeared before the most important

discoveries had been made, and by force of circumstances it

rapidly became out of date, in those chapters at least which

deal generally with the primitive ethnology of the inhabitants

of the Nile Valley.

We must not fail to mention the work by Professor Steindorff

of Leipsic, who was the first to give an accurate judgment on

a whole class of artistic remains belonging to the archaic period,

of which mention will frequently be made in this book.'

Being at last in possession of Egyptian artistic productions

Flinders Petrie, with chapters by A. C. Mace, London, 1901 {Egypt

Exploration Fund).1 Ihc Royal Toitibs of the First Dynasty^ 1900, i. by W. M. F. Petrie,

with chapter by F. Ll. Griffith, London, 1900 {Egypt Exploration Fund).The Royal Tojnbs of the Earliest Dynasties., 1901, ii. by VV. M. Flinders

Petrie, London, 1901 {Egypt Exploratiofi Fund).^

Abydos, i. 1902, by W. M. Flinders Petrie, with chapter by A. E. Weigall{Egypt Exploration Fund). Abydos, ii. 1903, by W. M. Flinders Peirie, with

chapter by F. Ll. Griffith, London, 1903 (Egypt Exploration Fund).^

Hierakonpolis, i. by J. E. Quibell, with notes by W. M. Flinders Petrie,

London, Quaritch, icyoo {Egypt Research Account). Hierakonpolis, ii. by J. E.

Quibell & F. W. Green, London, Quaritch, 1902 {Egypt Research Account).** El A?nrah and Abydos, by D. Pandall MacIver & A. C. Mace, with a

chapter by F. Ll. Griffith, London, 1902 {Egypt Exploratinn Fund). The

name of Mr. Wilkin does not occur in the title of this publication, owing to

the lamented death of this young scholar shortly after the excavations were

concluded.•'' Recherches sur les origines de VEgypte. L'dge de la pier/e et des nictaux,

by J.DE Morgan, Paris, 1896. Recherches sur les origines de rE^gyptc. Elthno-

graphie prehistorique et tombeau royal de Negadah, by J.de Morgan, Paris,

Leroux, 1897.^SvEi^XiOKYV, Eifie ncuc Art agyptischcr Kiinst \x\ Acgyptiaca. Festschrift

fi'ir Georg Ebers^ Leipsic, 1897, pp. 122- 141.




anterior to the dynasties, it becomes possible to enquire whether

the question of the origin of art in Eg}-pt can be raised with

any hope of arriving at a solution.

But here we are face to face with an unforeseendifficult}-.

The remains are extremely abundant;the contents of the tombs

furnish pottery, statuettes, and various utensils in almost un-

limited number. Of all these what should we choose—of all these

multiple objects which are they that can claim the title of

artistic} The difficulty in replying to this question is great,

because in order to arrive at a solution we mustgive

a definition

of what is art. Unhappily this only transfers the problem without

rendering it more easy of solution. We know how opinions

vary on the true nature of art. Each author has his special

point of view, which makes him insist more expressly on one

or other aspect of the subject. So much is this the case, that

there are 'i&w subjects in the world of which one can say with

more truth, Qnut capita tot census.

I wish it were possible to transcribe the whole of the pages

written by Professor E. Grosse on this subject.'Ît was his work,

as I specially wish to observe, which first started me on the

researches which have resulted in the production of this book—but to do this would appear excessive, and I must content m^'self

with giving a summary of them as briefly as possible, dwelling

l)rincipally on those points which should act as our guide. The duty of a science, says Professor Grosse,

is this : to

establish and explain a certain group of phenomena. All science

is therefore theoretically divided into two parts : the descriptive

part, which is the description of facts and their nature;and

the explanatory part, which refers these facts to their general

laws. Docs the science of art fulfil these conditions? h'or the

first part the repl\- may be in the afiirmalive;but can it be so

as regards the second part? It appears that it is open to doubt,

and here Professor Grosse j)rovcs himself very severe concerningthe productions of art criticism, which, in addition to complete

systems, usually arrogate to themselves that majestic air of

infallibility which is the distinctive sign of .swstems ol tiie

'

Grossi£, Lcs Debuts de I'Art, Frencli cclitimi, Paris, Alcan, 1902.



lo PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

philosophy of art, of which, in fact, they constitute mere fragments.

Of course, he says, there are occasions when it may appear

both useful and pleasant to be informed of the subjective opinions

on art which may be held by a man of genius ;but when they

are imposed on us as general knowledge, founded on a scientific

basis, from that moment we must refuse to accept them. The

essential principle of scientific research is always and everywhere

the same;whether research concerns a plant or a work of art,

it should always be objective. It is in consequence of not

having obeyed this necessity that the philosophy of art has not

yet succeeded in providing us with a satisfactory explanation of

artistic phenomena, notwithstanding the mass of material placed

at its command by the history of art.

The task which lies before the science of art is this : to

describe and explain the phenomena which are classed under the

denomination of

phenomena of an artistic character. This task

has two sides—an indi\idual and a social one. In the first case,

the object must be to understand an isolated work of art, or the

entire work of one artist, to discover the relations which exist

between an artist and his individual work, and to explain the

work of art as the product of an artistic individuality working

under certain conditions. This individual side of the problem,

if it is possible to study it with precision during the centuries

most nearly approaching our own times, becomes more and more

complex as we reach further back into the past, and very soonwe find ourselves forced to abandon our attempt and to adopt

the social side. If it is impossible to explain the individual

character of a work of art by the individual character of the

author, nothing remains to us but to trace the collective character

of artistic groups having a certain extension within time or

space, to the character of a nation or of an entire epoch.

The first aspect of our problem is therefore psychological, the

second sociological. As Professor Grosse observes, this socio-

logical aspect cjf the [iroblem has not been overlooked;

as

early as 1719 Abbe Dubos, in his Reflexions critiques sur la

poesie et la peinture, opened the wa\' to the sociology of art.

Herder, Taine, Hennequin, and Guyau successively attempted



PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. ii

to form general theories, or else combated those of their pre-

decessors;but unfortunately, if the results obtained b\' these

sociological studies in matters of art are reviewed, it must be

confessed that they are very poor. This can be accounted for,

in the first place, by the small number of students who have

realized the sociological value of art, but also and above all

by the erroneous method which forms the basis of all these

researches.

In all other branches of sociology we ha\e learnt to begin

at the beginning. We first study the simplest forms of social

phenomena, and it is only when we thoroughly understand the

nature and conditions of these simple forms that we attempt

the explanation of those which are more complicated. . . . All

sociological schools have, one after another, attempted to find new

roads;the science of art alone pursues its mistaken methods. All

others have eventually recognized the powerful and indispensable

aid that ethnology can afford to the science of civilization;

it is

only the science of art which still despises the rough productions

of primitive nations offered by ethnology. The science of art is

not yet capable of resolving the problem under its more difficult

aspect. If we would one cla\' arrive at a scientific comprehension

of the art of civilized nations, we must, to begin with, investigate

the nature and conditions of the art of the non-civilized. We must

know the multiplication table before resolving problems of higher

mathematics. It is for this reason that the first and most pressing-

task of the science of art consists in the study of the art of

primitive nations.

It verily appears that, in the study of art, misfortune attaches

itself to all the exi)ressions employed. Wc begin with vague terms,

which we attem[)t by degrees to define, only to find on arriving at

our first conclusion that there again is a term wanting in precision

and requiring definition.

Which, in fact, are the nations who can be called primiti\-e ?

Here again the mcjst diverse opinions ha\c been expressed, and

when stud)ing the proposed classifications, we meet at every step

with errors which lead us to review the results with suspicion.

Only to quote one example :

Between an inhabitant of the




Sandwich Islands and a man indigenous to the Australian

Continent there is a difference in civilization

greater,

no doubt,

than that which separates an educated Arab and an educated

European, and yet Ratzel, who distinguishes the 'semi-civilized'

Arabs from the'

civilized'

Europeans, combines the Pol>-nesians

and Australians in one group.

Is there any method of determining the relative degrees of

any one civilization? That which is called civilization is so

complicated, even in its simplest forms, that it is impossible, at

any rate in our day, to determine with any certainty the factors

that produce it. If we were to compare the various civilizations

in all their manifestations, we should probably not attain our end;

but we should be able to solve our problem fairly easil}-, if we

were to succeed in finding an isolated factor, which would be easy

to determine and sufficiently important to pass as characteristic

of the whole of a civilization.

Now there is a factor to be found which fulfils the two condi-

tions indicated, and that is production. The form of production

adopted exclusively, or almost exclusively, in a social group—that

is to say, the manner in which the members of that group produce

their food—is a fact which is easy to observe directl}', and to

determine with sufficient precision in any form of civilization.

Whatever may be our ignorance of the religious or social beliefs

of the Australians, we can have no doubt as to their productions—

the Australian is a hunter and a collector of plants. It is perhaps

impossible for us to know the intellectual civilization of the ancient

Peruvians, but we know that the citizens of the empire of the

Incas were agriculturists : that is a fact which admits of no doubt.

To have established what is the form of production of a given

nation, however, would not be sufficient to attain the end that

wc have proposed to oursehcs, if we could not prove at the same

time that the special form of civilization depends upon the special

form (^f ])roduction. The idea of classifying nations according to

the donn'nunt principle cjf their production is in no way new. In

the most ancient works on the history of civilization one finds

already the well-known groups of nations, classed as hunters and

fishermen, nomad cattle breeders and agriculturists, established in



PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. 13«

their countries. Few historians, however, seem to have understood

the full importance of production. It is easier to underrate than to

exaggerate it. In ever\' form of civilization, production is in someway the centre of life

;it has a profound and irresistible influence

on the other factors of civilization. It is itself determined, not bv^

factors of civilization but by natural factors—by the geographical

and meteorological character of a country. One would not be

altogether wrong in calling production the primary phenomenon

of civilization, a phenomenon by the side of which other factors

of civilization are but secondary derivatives, not in the sense that

they have sprung from production, but because they have been

formed and have remained under its powerful influence, although of

independent origin. Religious ideas have certainly not grown out

of the necessities of production ; nevertheless, the form of the

dominant religious ideas of a tribe can be traced in part to the

form of production. The belief in souls which exists among

the Kaffirs, has an independent origin ;but its particular form—

the belief in an hierarchic order of the souls of ancestors—is

nothing more nor less than a reflection of the hierarchic order

among the living ;which in its turn is the consequence of pro-

duction, of the breeding of cattle, of the warlike and centralizing

tendencies which result from it. It is for this reason that among

hunting tribes, whose nomad life does not admit of a fixed so-

cial organization, one finds indeed the belief in souls— but not of

the hierarchic order. The importance of production, however,

manifests itself nowhere so evidently as in the organization of the

family. The strange forms which have been taken by the human

family—forms which have inspired sociologists with still more

strange hypotheses—appear to us perfectly comprehensible the

moment that we consider them in their relation to the forms

of production. The most primiti\'e people depend for their food

on the product of the chase—the term chase being taken in its

broadest meaning—and the plants which they collect.^

If we survey the world in search of tribes living in this elemen-

tary stage, we shall not find them in large numbers, (irossc ejuickly

disposes of them. The immense continent of Africa contains

'

pp. 26, 27.




but one hunting tribe—leaving out of account the pygmy tribes

of the centre, the civilization of whom is completely unknown

to us— these are the Bushmen, the vagrants of the Kalahari

and surrounding countries. In America we find true huntsman

tribes only in the north and the south—the Aleutians and the

I-ûegians. All the others are more or less agricultural, with

the exception of some Brazilian tribes, such as the Botocudos,

who still live under very primitive conditions. In Asia there are

scarcely any but the Mincopies of the Andaman Islands, who

still exhibit the primitive state in all its purity ;the Veddahs of

Ceylon have been too much influenced by the Cingalese, and the

Tchuktchis of the north and their ethnical relations are already

breeders of cattle. There is only one continent which is still

occupied over its whole extent by a primitive people—

exception

being made of its European colonies—this is Australia, a continent

that we can also consider from an ethnological point of view as

the last trace of a vanished world. Here an objection arises.

Why not takeinto

account the prehistoric populations,whose

artistic productions are both numerous and varied ? The reason,

according to M. Grosse, is that in considering the invaluable

evidence of these productions, before being able to say with

certainty that we are actually dealing here with the primitive

forms we are in search of, it would be necessary for us to know

the civilizations which have furnished these records.

Happily this objection does not exist, at least in the same

degree, in the case of primitive Egypt, where the abundance of

records is already such that we can picture to ourselves the life

of the primitive Egyptian with sufficient accuracy to be able,

I think, to distinguish those productions which merit the title

of artistic;and with this we return to the problem just pro-

pounded, with some additional likelihood this time of being able

to solve it.

In collections of Australian objects, says Professor Grosse,^

one almost invariably finds wooden sticks covered with com-

binations of points and lines. It is almost impossible to dis-

tinguish these designs at the first glance from those which are

'

Grosse, loc. cit. p. 17 ct seq.




found on the Australian clubs and shields, and which arc ordinarily-

styled'

ornaments.' There is, notwithstanding, an essential

difference between the two classes of patterns. Eor some timewe have been aware that the so-called desii^ns upon these

sticks are nothing else than a rude kind of \\riting—marks

intended to remind the messenger who carries the stick of the

essential points of his message. They have therefore a practical

and not an aesthetic signification. In this instance our knowledge

prevents our falling into error;but how numerous must be the

instances where it is otherwise? Who could authoritatively assure

us that the figures on the Australian shields are actually orna-

ments ? Is it not possible that they are marks of property or

tribal signs ? Or possibly these figures are religious symbols ?

These questions arise almost every time we look at the orna-

mentation of any primitive race. In very few instances can

we give an answer. . . . Notwithstanding the great niunber of

doubtful instances, there are also many in which the purely aesthetic

significationcan never be called in

question.The doubtful cases

also are far from being valueless for our science. The birds'

heads at the prows of the Papuan canoes are perhaps primarily

religious symbols, but they also serve as ornaments. If the

choice of an ornamentation is determined by a religious con-

sideration, the execution and the combination with other motifs,

whether different or analogous, are always affected by aesthetic

needs.

It is easy to see what are the difficulties of the subject, and

how impossible it would be to discuss the cjuestion if one

had resolved from the outset to izive onlv' definite and assured

data on all subjects. It is therefore necessary to confine oneself

to multiplying observations and studying the doubtful instances,

in the hope that one day light may spring forth from them,

permitting us tf) trace with a sure hand the laws which goxcrn

artistic phenomena. y\s it is necessary, in order to fix our

ideas, to give a definition of Art, we will sa\' with M. Grossc :

Speaking broadly, we mean by

'

lesthetic'

or'

arti.stic'

acti\it\- an

activity which is intended b\- its exercise, or b\' its final result,

to excite a direct sensation, which in most cases is one ot



i6 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

pleasure. But we are careful to add immediately, with our author,

that our definition is merely a scaffolding to be demolished when

our edifice is built.^

This has been a very long parenthesis, and it appears to

some extent to be a digression from Primitive Art in Egypt.

Nevertheless, I believe it will be of service in warning us at the

outset of the difficulties that we shall encounter;

at the same

time it shows us what we may hope for in the future from a

study thus directed—that it may possibly throw light one day

on the

extremely interesting questionof the

originof

Egyptianart. Is classical Egyptian art an importation, as we have just

asked ourselves? or is it a continuation of the primitive art?

Was there a slow and progressive evolution;or is it possible to

establish at any given moment a hiatus—a sudden contrast between

the primitive artistic productions and those of dynastic Egypt ?

W'c cannot attempt to reply to these questions until we have

arrived at the completion of our study ;and even then, I fear,

the result will remain extremely problematic in the present

state of our knowledge.

As a precaution against error we will borrow from Professor

Grosse the plan of his book, and also the method of dividing our

matter shall be as follows: Art, he says, is divided into two

great groups—arts of movement and arts of repose. The differ-

ence which separates them has been very clearly indicated by

Fechner (Vorsc/iu/e der A es^/ie///i', ii. 5). The first seek to please

by forms in repose, the others by forms either in movement or

following one another in time;

the first transforms or combines

masses in repose, and the other produces the movement of the

body, or changes in time capable of attaining the result aimed at

by art. We will commence with the arts in repose, commonly

called the plastic arts. Decoration is probably the most primitive

of these, and as the object first adorned is the human bod}-,

we will begin with the study of personal adornment. But even

the most primitive folk are not content to adorn the body

'

J. Collier, in his J'rimer of Art (London, 1882), p. 36, defines art as a

creative operation of the intelHgence

—the making of sometiiing either witii

a view to utihty or pleasure.



PRELIMIXARY CONSIDERATIONS. 17

onl\-; they must also embellish their weapons and utensils. The

ornamentation of these objects will occupy the second place in

our study of the subject. We shall then examine the free plastic

art (J'reic Bildnerei), which aims not at decoration but at the

creation of works which are in themselves artistic. Dancing forms

the transition between the arts of repose and the arts of move-

ment. It may be defined it as the art which creates movement

(Jebende Bildnerei)—animated plastic art. . . . Among primitive

people dancing is always united with song ;and thus we have

a convenient mode of transition to poetry. . . . Finally we will

study primitive music.^ The three last subjects can only be

treated in a most summary fashion in their relation to ancient

Egypt. Before commencing the last portion of our task we will

devote a short chapter to the earliest Pharaonic monuments, the

comparison of which with the primitive remains cannot fail to

be interesting.

But before entering upon our subject, I think it necessary to

give some dates in order to fix our ideas.

Authors differ enormously in their opinions on the subject of

the date of the first Egyptian dynasty. Here are some of the dates

which have been proposed. Champollion-Figeac gives the year

5869 ; Wilkinson, 2320 ; Bockh, 5702 ; Bunsen, 3623 ; Lepsius,

3892 ; Brugsch, 4455 ; Unger, 5613 ;Lieblein, 5004 ; Mariette,

5004 ; Lauth, 4157.-

Dr. Budge, Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities of

the British Museum, in his recent History of Egyptf having quoted

the dates given by Champollion-Figeac, Bockh, Lei)sius, Mariette,

Bunsen, Wilkinson, and Brugsch, ends thus :

Of these writers, the

only ones whose chronological views are to be seriously considered

are Lepsius, Mariette, and lirugsch, between who.sc highest and

lowest dates is an interval of over iioo years. Viewed in the light

of recent investigations, the date of Lepsius seems to be too low,

whilst that of Mariette,in the same

way,seems to be too

high;we

'

Grosse, loc. cit. pp. 38, 39.

2According to the chronological table drawn u[) by Wiedemann in iiis

Aegyptisclie Geschiclite, pp. 732, 733, which gives with reserve the date 5650.

^RuDGE, History of Egypt, i. Egypt in tJic NeolitJiic and Arcliaic Periods,

London, ii)i>2. p. 159.

2




have therefore to consider the date for Menes (the first king of the

Egyptian lists) arrived at by Brugsch.

M. Maspero, in his large Histoire ancien7ie des peuplcs de

r Orient} apparently accepts a somewhat similar dating. He places

Sneferu, first king of the fourth dynasty, at 4100 B.C., with a

possible error of several centuries more or less.

Professor Petrie, in one of his more recent works, places the

reign of Menes between 4777 and 4715.

VVe can therefore admit, in taking a minimum date, that all the

monumentsdealt with in this

bookare anterior to the fourth

millenary B.C.;but having thus obtained a provisional date for the

termination of the primitive period, it would be equally advisable

to assign one also for the commencement of that period. But here

the difficulty is still greater, and a calculation can only be based

upon extremely vague presumptions. For the development of the

primitive civilization Dr. Petrie demands about two thousand years,

and as he places the commencement of Pharaonic Egypt about

5000 B.C., the most ancient of the monuments which we are about

to consider would necessarily date back to about 7000 B.C.^

As we find ourselves in our own country face to face with

immense periods of prehistoric ages, without being able to assign

any precise dates to the different stages of civilization which can

be established, it has been necessary to find a convenient

terminology to enable us with ease to classify the objects found.

To this end a series of

deposits

characteristic of an

age

has been

chosen, and to that age the name of the deposit has been given.

Thus terms have been created which are universally accepted, such

as Chellean, Mousterian, Magdalenian, etc. It would be extremely

convenient to be able to do the same in Egypt, and in fact the

^

Paris, Hachette, i. 1895, p. 347, note 2. In the new Guide to tlic Cairo

Museum, Cairo, 1903, p. 2, the same author places the first dynasty at about

5000 B.C.

-

Al)ydos,\.

p.22.

3 Mr. Maclver has recently attempted to combat these conclusions, but liis

arguments are not conclusive. In his calculations he has not taken into account

that the tribe wlio interred in the El Amrah cemetery may have been nomads

who would only return periodically to that locality, a circumstance tiiat would

completely change the conclusions to be drawn from the number of tombs. See

MacIver & Mace, El Amrah and Abydos, pp. 50-52.




Naqada age, so called from the principal cemetery of that period

which has beenexplored,

is a termalready applied

to the entire

primitive period. In scientific books the Naqada civilization, the

men of Naqada, etc., are already commonly referred to. Petrie has

gone still farther, and instead of names he has proposed to make

use of numbers.

Relying upon the study of types of pottery, which are extremely

varied during the primitive period, Dr. Petrie has succeeded, by a

series of classifications which it is impossible for me to describe

here, in separating all known types into a scries of 50. To these

he has applied numbers ranging from 30 to 80, which numbers

represent the successive periods of the prehistoric age. To these

numbers he applies the term sequence dates. The contents of a

tomb, when studied on the basis of these classifications, furnish a

maximum and a minimum number, the average of which indicates

the relative age of the burial.

This scheme originated by Petrie is very ingenious, and is

only rendered possible by the large number of intact graves

which have been discovered. Notwithstanding the various

criticisms to which his m.cthod has been subjected, up to the

present time no one has apparently been able to bring forward

facts to contradict his results. It is owing to this system that

we can say of the type of a statuette or of a scheme of decoration

that they occur, for instance, between the sequence dates 35 and

39;

and it is thus that similar indications must be understood, as

they are met with in the pages of this book. VVc must explain

that the numbers previous to 30 have been reserved in case

a lucky find should bring to light monuments more ancient than

any already known. ^ As I have previously mentioned, the point

of union between the sequence dates and the reigns of the kings

of the first dynasty has been established on the evidence of the

small prehistoric town of Abydos, and Petrie has fixed the reign

of Menes as coinciding with the sequence date 79.-

'

PEruiE, Sequences in Prehistoric Remains, in tlie Journal of tlie Antliro-

pological Institute, xxix. 1900, pp. 295-301 ; Petkie, Diospolis pari'a,

pp. 4-12; S. Reinach, Review ol' tlie preceding in I'Antliropologie, xi. u/)o,

pp. 759-762.^Petrie, Abydos, i. p. 22.




It is on the basis of these sequence dates that we can state

of certain

objects

that

they

are

specially

numerousduring

the

first or second half of the prehistoric period-

I have endeavoured to multiply the illustrations, which can

never be sufficiently numerous in a work where the text is

intended merely to serve as a summary commentary on the

monuments. The source of each of the illustrations is indi-

cated in the following manner : When, for instance, there is

quoted in the text Naqada, pi.Ixiv.

'j'^,and Diospolis Parva^

ix. 23, the mark 78 will be found at the side of the illustration

taken from Naqada, and D. 23 beside that taken from Diospolis.

A. signifies Abydos \R. T. Royal tombs

\ Am., A., or El, El

Amrali;

etc. These annotations, in connection with those at the

foot of the page, should, I think, render it easy to trace the originals

of the illustrations. In some very exceptional cases, especially

in Figs. 7 and 17, which give examples of objects which it is

necessary to refer to again later, the indications relating to the

identification of the objects will be found in the passage where

thc}' are treated in detail.^

In concluding these preliminary remarks, I do not attempt

to conceal the defects this work ma\' contain. It is, in fact,,

hazardous to write on a subject so new as this, and especially

on a class of objects the number of which increases from day

to dav. I sincerely hope that in a few years new discoveries

will have rendered this book altogether inadequate. I have

simply endeavoured to render it as complete as possible, hoping

that it will remain, at any rate, a summary of the question as

it existed at the moment of publication.

1

Following the example of M. Salomon Rkixach in La Sculpture

C7iropeenne avant les influences grcco-rotnai7ies ,I have myself drawn the

greater part of these figures (except those signed with a monogram). These

must, however, fie considered entirely as sketches, by no means intended to

supersede the original putjlications.



21

CHAPTER II.

PERSONAL ADORNMENT.

PRIMITIVEraces paint almost the whole of the body. The

only exception are the Esquimaux, who cover their

bodies with clothing, at all events, when they quit their huts.

The Australian always has a store of white clay, or of red and

yellow ochre in his pouch. In daily life he is content with

various smears on his cheeks, shoulders, or chest;but on solemn

occasions he daubs the whole of his body.^

Is it possible to prove that any similar custom existed amongthe primitive Egyptians? First we must remark that colouring

materials, such as red and N'ellow ochre, malachite, and sulphide

of antimony, are frequently found in the tombs -

;these

colouring materials are usually contained in small bags, placed

near the hands of the deceased person.^

There is no evidence, I believe, to show that the)- painted the

whole of the body, but there is a clay statuette which has designs

painted over the whole body. This interesting object was dis-

covered at Tukh;

it represents a woman, standing, with her arms

above her head, in a pcxsition we shall find again in the deco-

ration of vases. In the chapter dealing with that subject we

shall make an attempt to determine, if possible, the meaning of

this attitude.

The designs painted on this statuette are of various kinds.

In the first place there arc figures of animals, goats or antelopes,

which Pctrie remarks are absolutely identical with those on the

'

Gkosse, Lcs Debuts de VArt^ P- 4i-^ De Morgan, Rechcrches sur lcs origincs dc I'Egyph-, ii. p. 51.

^Petrie, Naqada, p. 30.




red pottery with white line decoration. We should next observe

the zigzag patterns, and finally the nnotives borrowed from plants.

All these decorations occur upon the pottery contemporary with

the commencement of the prehistoric period between 31 and 32

(sequence dates). This indicates that the figure in question is of

extreme antiquity, and we may consider it as one of the earliest

female figures known, with the exception of the ivories discovered

Fig.5-—Figure of a Woman with Designs painted over

THE Whole Body.

Gre}' clay with black paint.

in the caves of the south of France ^

(Fig. 5). M. de Morgan,

reproducing this same figure, remarks that it would be easy to

find a large number of analogies among the tribes of Central

Africa, of Asia, and of Oceania. ^

'

Petrie, Naqada, pi. lix. 6 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford). The examples of

pottery quoted by Petrie for comparison with the paintings are the following :

pi. x.wiii. 34, 48; pi. xxix. -jj, ^d, 91-95.- De Morgan, Recherches siir les origincs dc I'Kgypte, ii. p. 56, tip. ini.



PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 23

The most intcrestini; comparison from this point of view is

one indicated by Petrie, who observes how greatly the painted

designs on the body recall the tatoo-marks of the populations

to the west of Egypt, those Tiinihu (Libyans) who, as we

shall frequently have occasion to remark, present many analogies

with the primitive Egyptians. The subject of tatooing we shall

consider presently.

Two clay female figures in the Petrie collection, University

College, London, and a similar fragment in the Ashmolean

Museum, Oxford,are also

paintedwith

designs analogouswith

those on the Tukh statuette^ (Fig- 6).

It will thus be seen that evidence relating to painting the

body is very scanty, and only enables us to assert that women

were in the habit of decorating the body with various patterns.

Also, it is not absolutely certain, in the objects quoted here, that

we have not to deal with tatooing ;it is only the discovery of

colourin - materials in the tombs that leads us to believe that

they are instances of painting.-

On the subject of painting the eyes we happily possess far

clearer evidence : for this purpose malachite was used, ground

to powder and apparently mixed with some fatt\- substance.

With this paint a rather broad line was drawn round the eye,

which, besides being decorative, had a utilitarian purpose.

As Petrie observes, Livingstone records that in the centre of

Africa he found that the best remedy against obstinate sores was

powdered malachite, which the natives provided for him. '1 he

same author compares the coating of colour which [)reser\-cd

the e)'c from the blazing glare of the desert with the custom of

the Esquimaux, who blacken the skin round the eye to protect

it from the glare (jf the snow.'

' My attention has been drawn to similar figures at the Turin Museum,

which show distinctly the line ol paint below the eyes which we are about to

consider.

'^ For painting the body and tatooing in pre-Mycenajan Greece, see

Blinkenberg, Atitiqtiiics prcinyccnicniics. £tudc sur la plus ancwnnc

civilisatiofi de la G/rcc; in the IVlcmoircs dc la Sucliitc royalc dcs antiqiiaircs

du Noni, new series, 1896, pp. 46-50.

^Petkik, Dlospolis parva, \>.

20.




Fig. 6.— Figures of Women. University College, London.

Grey clay with greenish paint. On the figure to the left the painting has scaled

off, and only a few lines on the torso can now be distinguished.

The following facts prove that this custom existed in Egypt

during the primitive period. Shells containing green paint have

been discovered in the tombs,^ and similar traces of colour have

^Petrie, Naqada, p. 6, toml) 522 Ballas

; p. 15, tomb 23 Ballas; p. 16,




been found on ordinary pebbles, very much polished, which are

invariably found with the slate palettes.^

These palettes, of which we shall frequently have occasion to

speak in the course of this work, served for grinding the malachite,

which was crushed to powder on them by means of the pebbles I

have just mentioned. The fact is demonstrated in an undeniable

Fig. 7.—Slate Palettes used for grinding Paint.

manner by the traces of green paint found on them, and also

by the cavities worn in them by prolonged grinding- (Eig. 7)

Petrie has also occasionally found traces of h.ematite on

them.

The palettes were fated to fulfil a brilliant destiny. Later

torn]) 87 Ballas. The same use of sliells in the fourth dynasty has also been

established. See Petrie, Median, London, 1892, pi.x.\i.\-. 17, p. 3.1

:

Tlic shell

contains powdered blue carbonate of copper as paint.

'

Petrie, Naqada, pp. 10, 19, tomb 5 Naqada. A tine specimen of a palette

with traces of paint, from Gebelein, at Oxford.

*Petrie, Naqada, p. 43.




on we find them developed into real works of art, of immense

size and apparently employed ceremonially.

We must mention the custom that existed in the primitive

period of paintintj the bones of the deceased with red colour.

Among the Australians the adolescent is painted red for the

first time at his initiation, when he joins the community of the

men. Painting with red, characteristic of entrance into life, is

employed also for death.^

Without more evidence than we possess we cannot deter-

mine how far this custom was general among the primitive

Egyptians. I have only met with one instance mentioned by

Petrie.'^

Did the habit of painting the body, and more especially of

drawing a line of green paint round the eye, continue in Egypt

at the historic period ?

P'rom the earliest times the skin of the men on the monuments

is generally represented as being of a brownish red colour, dark

in tone, while the skin of the women is yellow. M. Maspero,

in his Histoire ancienne des peuplcs de V Orient classiqiief expresses

himself thus on the subject :

The men are generally coloured

red in these pictures ;in fact, one can observe among them

all the shades seen among the population at the present day,

from the most delicate pink to the colour of smoked bronze.

The women, who are less exposed to the glare of the sun, are

usually painted yellow,

the tint

being paler

if

they belongedto

the upper classes.

This explanation might very easily be accepted. It even

explains the exceptions to the red and yellow colourings which

we observe on a certain number of monuments, where the

skin of the women, fen instance, instead of being painted

yellow, is very nearly the natural colour. As an example 1

will mention the figure of a daughter of Prince Tehuti-hctep,

in the tombs of V\ Bersheh^

; or, again, the representations

^

Grossi-:, loc. cit. pp. 41, 42.-

Naqada, p. 25, tomb 234.''

Vol. i. p. 47.

Newberry, El Bersheh, i. frontispiece.




of Queen Aahmes at Deir-el-Bahari, and of Queen Thiti,

where the pink flesh colours contrast with those of thousands

of other ladies painted in bright yellow on the walls of their

tombs.^

I, however, am disposed to see in the singular colouring of

the Egyptians a custom resembling that of primitive nations,

especially as the colours employed, red and yellow, are those

most frequently in use among them. Analysing the primitive palette, Grosse thus expresses himself :

Red, especially a

yellowish red, is the favourite colour of primitivepeoples,

as

it is of almost all nations. . . . Goethe undoubtedly expresses

the general sentiment when in his FarbenleJire he speaks of the

exciting influence of a yellowish red. It is for this reason that

red has always played an important part in the toilet, especially

in that of men. The habit of victorious Roman generals of

painting themselves red has vanished with the Roman republic

. . . Yellow is of similar importance, and is also employed in

the same manner.. . .

^

I believe it is by no means impossible to apply these prin-

ciples to the Egyptians, and although I do not wish to assert

that the custom of painting the skin in this manner was

in vogue at all periods, yet I suppose that during a fairly

long period it was sufficiently general to give rise to the

convention of representing men in red and women in yellow.^

The custom of painting round the eyes with green— or, more

accurately, of underlining the eye with a dash of green paint—can with much greater certainty be attributed to Egyptian

civilization.

Petrie reports that he discovered in a tomb of the first dynasty

(M. I. Abydos) some powdered malachite in a small i\or>- box

•

Naville, Dcir-el-Bahari, iii. pi. l.wii. Benedite, Le Jombcau dc la rcine

Thiti, in the Memoires de la Mission atrlieologif/i/c ffaufaisc du Cairc, v. p. 397.

^Grosse, Les Debuts de PArt, pp. 45-47.

3Maspero, Histoire ancicnne dcs peiiples dc l'Orient class/(/itc, i. p 54 :

Je

pense bien (lu'au debut ils s'enduisaieiit tons Ics mrml)res de fjraissc on d'liiiile.'

Why not grease, or oil, coloured by means of mineral or vegetable dyes ? See,

however, Schweinfurth, Origin and present cofidition of the Egyptians, in

Baedeker, Egypt, 5th ed. Leipsic, 1903, p, .xx.xvi.




in the form of a duck ^—a very interesting object as prototype

of the numerous boxes of paint of the same form which have

frequently been found in tombs of the Second Theban Empire,

and of which several museums contain specimens-

(Fig. 8).

The monuments of the fourth dynasty clearly show the line

of green colour under the eyes, especially two door-posts at

the Cairo Museum, on which is figured the wife of a personage

named Sokar-khabiu, who was called Hathornefer-Hotep as her

great name, and Toupis as her short name—this woman's features

recall theNubian type

;

she hasa line

of green paintunder the

eyes.^ The celebrated statues of

Sepa and of Nesa at the Louvre

have the same lines. The pupils,

the eyelids, and the eyebrows are

painted black, and below the eyes

Fig. S.-^kv Box in Form''^ '^ ^'^^ of green.

' The mummyOF A Duck. of Ranefcv, who lived about the com-

mencement of the fourth dynasty, was closely enveloped in linen

wrappings, and on these the eyes and eyebrows were painted

green.'''

The green powder used in preparing the paint was enclosed

in small bags, which are frequently represented in the lists of

offerings. They were made, as these pictured representations

show, of leather or skin, and the specimens found in the

graves confirm the

accuracyof this detail.

Occasionally

also

the paint was placed in small vases or baskets. I cannot

attempt to enter into the question of the composition of this

green paint in Pharaonic Egypt, nor stop to describe the various

paints in 'use at the same period. It would have no bearing on

1

Petrie, Diospolis fiaum, p. 20. Published in Petrie, Royal Tombs, i.

pi. xxxvii. I—see p. 27 ;

id. ii. p. 37.- An

example

in Petrie, Kahim, Giirob and Hazvara, pi. xviii. 10, and

p. 35 ;two Others in Leemans, Acj^yptisc/ie Moiiumcntcn van Jict Nedoiandschc

Muscn77i van Oudheden te Lcydcn, ii. pi. xxxvi. 565, 567.•''

Maspero, Guide to the Cairo Museum, Cairo, 1903, p. 40, No. 62.

' De Rouge, Notice des monu^ncnts, A 36-38, pp. 26, 27,^Petrie, Medmn, p. 18.

Griffith, Beni Hasan, iii. pi. iii. 27, p. 14.




the subject of this work, and it h;is ah-cady been admirably

done by others.^ I must, however, mention the traces left in

Egyptian writing and ritual b\' this use of green paint.

A hieroglyphic sign :^&= clearly shows the line of colour drawn

below the eye, and this sign, in addition to other uses, serves

to determine the name Uazii \ \ Y^ °o of the powder and of

green paint.^

In the rituals frequent allusions are made to green paint,

occurring as early as the Pyramid texts, and the belief in the

protective and curative virtues of the paint was such, even at

that time, that the Uaait, the painted eye, was called the sound

or healthy eye. This point has been rendered perfectly clear

by Maspero, who has several times written on the subject.^

The daily ritual of the divine cult in Egypt, and also the

funerary rituals, mention bringing a bag of green paint as a

means whereby the god, or the deceased person, makes himself

henlthy with all that is in him. *

I'inally, a curious text is expressed in these terms :

He

brings to thee green paint for thy right eye, and mcstein

[another paint] for thy left eye. ''

The designs with which primitive man paints his skin ha\-c

no persistency of character; they can be got rid of at will and

others substituted. Under some circumstances it may be

'

Wiedemann, A., Varieties of ancie)it

''

Ko/il,'' in PErRU';, Medioii, pj). 41-44.Florence & Loret, Le collyre 7ioir et le collyrc vert du toinbcau dc la

princesse Nonbhotep, in De Morgan, Fouilles a Dalichour, March—Jnne, 1894,

pp. 153-164; also printed separately, Vienna, 1895, 16 pp.

-

Maspero, Revue critique, April 22nd, 1901, p. 308. Review of Davies,

Ptahhotcpy i.;see pi. v. 33 for tlie exact representation of the sign.

'*

Masi'ero, Notes au jour le jour, § 25, in the Proceedings of the Society of

Biblical Archa;ology, xiv. 1902, pp. 313-316, and La table d'offrandes des tombeaux

egyptiens, in the Revue de I'histoire des religions, xxxv. 1897, p. 297 (separate

reprint, p. 23). Fetrie, Medum, pi.xiii. Mariette, Monuments divers,

If00

recueillis en li.gypte et en Italic, Târis, 18S9, pi.xix. b, where

[)^ occurs from a

mastaba of the beginning of the fourtli dynasty. See Moret, Le rituel du culle divin journalier en- figyple, in the Annates

du Musee Guiifict, Bibliotheque d'etudes, xiv.p]>. 71, 109, 199.

•' Von Lemm, Das Ritualbuch des Ammondienstes, Leipsic, 18S2, p. 68.



30 PRLMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

desirable to render them indelible— as, for instance, in the case

of tribal or religious marks, and thus we find the origin of the

custom of tatooing.

As we have seen in the preceding pages, it is difficult to

distinguish clearly from the primitive Egyptian figures between

what was tatooed and what was painted. The same patterns

were apparently in use for both. As I have already stated, a

comparison has been made between the painted or tatooed

patterns on the primitive statuettes and the tatoo-marks on the

Libyans ( 1 iiniJiu) of the tomb of Scti I. This comparison, extended

^ IB

Fig. 9.—Tatoo-marks of the Primitive Egyptians compared

with those of the libyans.

From VAnihyopologie.

to the tatoo-marks of the indigenous inhabitants of Algeria, has

shown close analogy between them all^

(Fig. 9).

We reproduce here a group of Libyans from the tomb of

Seti I.^

(Fig. 10),

to which we shall several times have occasion

to refer. It is especially interesting to note that one of

the tatoo-marks is a very accurate reproduction of the hiero-

glyph >cz3:;, the symbol of the goddess Neitk;and in this

connection we are led to consider the name of the wife

of an Egyptian king of the first dynasty called Meri-Neith.

M. Maspero writes thus on the subject :

The name of Mcri-

'

Wiedemann, Die U?'2ett Aegyptens iind seine dlteste Bevolkcrung,in

Die Umsc/iau, September 23rd, 1899, pp. 756-766. Lcs modes d'cttsci'elisscment

dans la necropolc de Negadah ct la. question de I'origine dii peiiplc cgypticiiîn

De Morgan, Rechei-ches sitr les origincs de rj^gypie, ii. pp. 221, 222. Petrie,

Naqada, pp. 45, 46. Tatouages des indigejies dc I'Algerie, in rAntJiropologie,

xi. 1900, p. 485.-

Lei'sius, Detikmiiler aus Aegyptoi mid Aethiopicn, iii. pi. 136.






Occasionally tatoo-marks are actually pictographic, and convey

a meaning. An American Indian, for instance, bore on his arm.

zigzag lines signifying mysterious power.

^

Also, tatooing

may be intended to serve a medical purpose.^ The Egyptians

of the classical period tatooed themselves occasionally on the

breast or on the arms with the names or representations of

divinities. This custom was perhaps exclusively confined to

the Second Theban Empire ;I do not remember to have met

with an example outside that period. It will be sufficient to

mention some instancesof this.

Amenophis IV. and his queenbore the names of the god Aten tatooed upon the breast and

arms. With reference to this subject Professor Wiedemann

remarks that Libyan influence can clearly be traced during this

reign.^ A stela in the Pesth Museum shows a personage con-

temporary with Thothmes III., who bears on his right arm a

cartouche of that king.*

On other examples we find the figure of the god Amon-Ra

tatooed on the right shoulder, notably on a statue of a kneeling

scribe in the Turin Museum.^ Another statue in the Leyden

Museum (D 19) bears on the right shoulder a small figure of

Amon-Ra, and on the left shoulder the cartouche of Amenophis

' Garrick Mallei^y, Tentli Atmual Report of tlie Bureau of Ethnology,

1888-9, Washington, 1893, \i\.xvii. p. 235. E.xamples by HoERNES,

Urgeschichte der bildendcn Kunst in Europa von den Anfdngcn bis jnn 500 vor

Chr., Vienna, 1898, p. 31, note 4. There the author also mentions the Libyansof the tomb of Seti I.

^

FouQUET, Le Tatouage medical en fUgypte dans I'antiquite et a Vepoque

actuellc, in the Archives d'anthropologic criniinelle, xiii. 1899, p. 270 et scq.

See BuscHAN in the Ccntralblatt fur Anthropologic, iv. p. 75, and R. Verxeau

in I'Anthropologie, x. 1899, p. 09. Professor Petrie draws my attention to tlie

mummy of a priestess of the sixth dynasty, in Cairo, wlicre there are numerous

tatoo-mariis on the body.^Wiedemann, Die Urzeit Aegyptens ... in Die Umschau, iii. 1899, P- 7^6, and

in De Morgan, Recherches sur les origines de I'Egyptc, ii. p. 222. For the

figured representations

see

LEPsms,Denkmdleri iii.

pi.106,

109.

Professor Petrie

has remarked to me that in this case tlie so-called tatoo-marks may be, in reality,

small plaques of glazed pottery fixed on fine muslin. At Tel-el-Amarna similar

plaques are found with the name of the god Aten.

'

Maspero, Azotes sur differcnts points de g7-ammaire et dliistoirc, in the

Melanges dârcheologic cgyptienne ct assyrienne, i. 1872, p. 151.*M.\SPEô, Histoire ancie7tnedes peuplesde I' Orie}itclassique,'\\. p. 531, figure.




[I. ?]

^ Another example from the same museum (V 82) represents

a sculptor who bears on his breast and shoulders the tatooed sign

K n^ temple of Ptah. Finally, a small statuette, of which

the upper part alone remains, in the Cabinet des Medailles in Paris,

shows that on {the breast and shoulders signs were tatooed, the

meaning of which we cannot always follow, and which bear con-

siderable resemblance to the marks found on pottery (Fig. 11).

Fig. II.—Fragment of a Statuette with Tatoo-marks on the Breast

AND Right .Shoulder.

Cabinet des Medailles, Paris.

With regard to decorative tatoo-marks, they arc somewhat

rare on Egyptian remains of the classical period. They occur,

however, on a small figure of a woman in faience in the Bcrlm

Museum (No. 9,583),- on a stela in the Cairo Museum (No. 20,138),

'

Leemans, Aegyplischc Monitmente7i van hct Ncdcrlandsche Muscinn van

Oudhcdcn ic Lcyden, ii. pi. 4.

'^

Stratz, Ueber die Kleiditng der ligyptischenTUnzennncn in tlic Zfif-

schrift fur dgyptische Sprachc,-i^\.\\\\\. igoo, p. 149.

3




where a man is decorated on the breast with tatoo-marks,^ and

finally in a representation of a tomb of the Second Theban

PLm pi re.-

The perforation of the ear, the nose, or the lips is done with

a view to placing some kind of ornament in the hole thus

obtained;

this form of mutilation may therefore be considered

as a natural step towards the second method of personal adorn-

ment, which consists in placing or hanging ornaments upon

the body.'^

I am not certain that the prehistoric Egyptians

practised these mutilations, nevertheless, I wish to draw attention

to the use of ear-studs in the classic period ; and, first, we will

observe that one of the Libyans of the tomb of Seti I. is

wearing ear-studs, judging from the plates published by Belzoni

and by Champollion. Lepsius, in the plate of which our

Fig. lo represents a part, has not noted the ear-stud.^ (See

Fig. 19.)

In Egypt the wearing of ear-studs is fairly frequent, but only

at the commencement of the eighteenth dynasty. As Ermanremarks,'' these ear-ornaments are either broad discs or large

rings. During the reign of Amenophis IV. one finds that men

wore these ear-ornaments as much as women.

' Lange & ScHAEFER, Grab- mid Denksteine des. mittlcren Reichs (Cata-

logue general des antiquites Egyptiennes du Musee du Caire), i. p. 163 ;iv.

pi. Ixxxvi. p. 465.-

Lepsius, Denkytidlcr, iii. 2. See Erman,Life

in Ancient

Egypt,p. 230 and

fig. p. 216. See Maspero, Histoire a7tcien7ie des peuplcs dc VOrient classique, i.

p. 54, and note 3. See Alfred Herz, Taftozuirimg, Art und Verhrcitung,

Leipsic, 1900 (Doctor-dissertation, Universitat Erlangen). On the subject of

tatooing and painting the body among the Greeks, see Wolters, P.,

EXacpoaTiKTos, in Hermes, xxxviii. pp. 265-273.•'

Deniker, Les races et Ics peuples de la tcrrc, Paris, 1900, p. 209.'

Belzoni, Plates illustrative of the Researches and Operations of G. Belzoni

in Egypt and Njihia^ London, 1821, pi.viii. Champollion, Mofinments de

r/igypte, pi. ccxl. For a reproduction of the head after this plate see Perrot &

CiiiPiEZ, Histoire de I'ait dans Vantiqiie^ i. fgvpte, tig. 528, p. 796. It is much

to be regretted that the various publications of this important representation vary

so greatly in tlic details. It is very desirable that an edition definitive should

be made.•''

Erman, Life in A?icient Egypt, p. 228.

*Steindorff, Vier Grabstelcn aus der Zeit Atnenophis IV., in the Zeitsclnift

filr Aegyptische Sprache, xxxiv. 1896, p. 66.





36 primitivp: art in egypt.

Other remains of more recent date show the hair arranged

in a variety of ways, the hair worn long and divided into

two rows of curls, framing the

face and hanging down to the

shoulders ^

;or short hair in

small curls, either round or of

corkscrew

form, arranged in

parallel rows from the nape of

the neck to the crown of the

head-; or, again, in other in-

stances, the whole of the hair

massed in a single thick plait,

which, falling from the crown

of the head, hangs down the

back ^

(Fig. 14).

All these methods of hair-

dressing for men are also

found on the monuments of

the Ancient Egyptian Empire,

where in this respect the

Egyptians appear to have faith-

fully followed the traditions of

their predecessors. The single

plait, however, is no longer

worn bymen

;

bythis time it

a I'aide de chaux ou d'urine) ou en

roux (par coloration avec du hemic).

M. Vircliow croit devoir ecarter cette

hypothese. . . . Salomon Reinach,

review of ViRCHOw, Ueber die cthno-

Io<iischc Stelbitig der priihistorisclicn

mid protoliistoriscliei) Acgypter [Ab-

FiG. 13.—Pottery Vase with Designs in handhmgcn der Preuss. Akadetnie

White representing Menfighting.

der VVisscfischaften, Berlin, 1898),in

lAnthropolofîc, ix. 1898, p. 447.•

QuiBELL, HierakonpoUs, \.pi. ii.

- Id. pi. V. and vi., and Petrie, The Races of Early Egypt, in tlie Joiirtial

of the Anthropological Institute, xxxi. pi.xix. Ii and 12.

'

QuiBELL, IIierako?ipolis, i. pi. xi. and xxvi. «, and Petrie, Royal Tombs of

the Earliest Dynasties, ii. pi. iv. 4.




is worn only by children, or as one of the distinctive marks of

princes and certain high sacerdotal dignitaries. In this case,

when we see it represented on the monuments of the Second

Theban Empire, the plait has usually lost its original form, and

is transformed into a fringed band hanging over the ear.^

The earliest female figures have no trace of any hair whatever,

and it might be considered that the head was entirely shaved.

Fig. 14.—Ivory Statuette.

A crouching captive. The hair, in a thick plait or twist, is hanging down the back.

It is probable, however, that this is owing to the inexperience

of the artist, who did not understand how to render hair.-'

' For the types of wigs of tlio Ancient Empire, see Erman, Life in Amicnt

Egypt, pp. 2ig-222. P'or the side-locks of children and of j)rinces, i/>.

pp.117,

235, 314, reproduction

of the lock transformed into a decorated bandeau.

This forms an interesting example of the laws of evolution of clothing as laid

down b}' Darwix, G. H., IJevolution dans le veienwfit, in the Revue de

rUniversite de Bruxellcs, v. 1899-1900, pp. 3S5-411, ill. (Separate reprint,

Brussels, Lamertin.) Translation from MacMillan's Magazine, 1872.

^ Later on we shall see that hair-combs are especially abundant at this

period.






Here, again, \vc find modes of dressing the hair identical with

those in use among women at the commencement of the Ancient

Empire, such as are represented, for instance, in the celebrated

statues of Nofrit, at Cairo, and of Nesa, at the Louvre.'

Savages of the present day delight in decorating their hair

with various objects, such as feathers, shells, carved combs and

pins, and we find this same custom prevailing among the

primitive Egyptians. We first meet with feathers, which the

men stuck in their hair;

this is specially noticeable on a

fragmentof a slate

palettein the Louvre.'^ The feathers

worn in this' way are ostrich feathers, and it is a question

whether there was not a religious significance in this method

of employing them. The feather is found later as the head-

dress of the goddess Maat, and also it is employed in writing

her name, which, in the Pyramid texts, is determined by a hawk

bearing the feather on its head.-' On the ancient statues dis-

covered at Koptos by Petrie, the emblem of the god Min is

surmounted by an ostrich feather.^

I must mention here that ostrich eggs have been found in

prehistoric tombs, showing traces of painting and engraving

(Fig. 16). The custom of depositing ostrich eggs in tombs has

several times been observed at different periods of Egyptian

history.'^ At Hu Petrie discovered clay models of ostrich eggs :

' See Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, pp. 222, 223.2

Heuzey, figyptcOH

Chaldce,in the

Co7nptesrendus dc VAcademie des

inscriptions et belles lettres, 1899, P^- ° P- ^6. See, farther on, our Fig. 25.

^

Griffith, in Davies, The Mastaba of Ptalihetcp and Akhethctep at

Sa(/(/are/i, i. p. 15.

^Petrie, Koptos, pi. 3.

'

Qe Morgan, Recherches siir les or'igines de rfUgyptc, ii. pp. 35, 69, and 100.

Petrie, AV/fl'^^, p. 19, tomb 4 ; p. 28, tomb 1480 (Aslimolean Museum, O.xford).

At the historic period, ostrich eggs and feathers were imported from tlie land of

Punt, and perhaps also from Asia, if we credit a scene in the tomb of Harmhabi.

See Bouriant, Le Tombcaii d'Harmhabi, in the Mcmoires dc la Mission

archcologi(/iirfranraise du Cairc, v. pp. 420 and 422, and pi.iii. and iv. ^Ve must

also remember the discovery of painted eggs in the Punic tombs of Carthage

(GsELL, Fouilles de Gonraya, Paris, 1903, pp. 35-37, where the author (piestions

whether ostrich eggs were not decorated by the Greeks of Kgypt or of Asia

Minor), and even in a tomb of the valley of Betis in Spain {l'Anthropologic,xi. 1901,

p. 469). See also Petrie, A'aukratis, i. p. 14 and pi. x.x. 15. It must,

nevertheless, be remembered tliat the ostrich egg was employed for industrial




one of these is decorated with black zigzag lines in imitation

of cords ^

;the others are simply painted with white spots

^

(Fig i6).

The ostrich feather almost without exception is found placed in

the hair of lightly-armed soldiers of ancient times, and a trace of

this is preserv'ed in the hieroglyph i^ .^ The Libyans of the

tomb of Scti I. have two feathers stuck in their hair.

/

^^^

Fig. i6.— Ostrich Eggs.

A fragment with incised figures; also clay models showing traces of painting. From

Naqada and Hu.

The women delighted in the use of decorated combs and pins

for fastening up their hair;these were made of bone or ivory,

purposes. See Tylok <& Griffith, T/ie Tomb of Paluj-i at El Kah, pi. iv. and

p. 18. Petrie, Illahi(7i, Kalmn and Giiroh, pi. xxii. and p. ig. Petrie, Kahim,

Gurob atid Haivara, p. 32. Mr.J.

L. Myres contributes the following interesting

note relative to the persistence of the commerce in ostrich eggs in the north of

Africa :

The transsaharan trade in ostrich eggs persists. The eggs, as far as I

could ascertain in Tunis andTripoli (in 1897),

come via Kano, along witli the

consignments of featliers, and emerge at the Mediterranean seaboard termini,

where they are in request as pendant ornaments in the mosques.'

Petrie, Diospolis parva, pi. v. and p. 33 (tomb B 101).

-

Hit, tomb B262 and B 56 (2 examples), (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford).^ See the remarks of Max Muller, Asien imd Eiiivpa nacit altdgypHschen

Denkmdlcrn, p. 3 et scq.




and were often decorated at the top with figures of animals;

occasionally even a human figure is found on them. Petrie

remarks that these combs were especially numerous at the

commencement of the prehistoric period between ^t, and 44

(sequence dates), while the pins,

of which the most common

type is decorated with a small

figure of a bird, are found

throughout the whole of the

prehistoric period

^

(Fig. 17).

We shall have an opportunity

of examining these more in

detail when studying ornamental

art, but we will here observe

that it is possible these combs

and hairpins had a magical

purpose, as is notably the case

in China.

The art of decorating the

hair and of arranging it in a

complicated manner does not

appear to have been raised to

any high level in primitive

Egypt. Nevertheless, there are

certain indications which seem

to point to a more elevated

ideal. Is it not possible to

recognize in the head-dresses

of certain kings, queens, and

divinities on monuments of the classical period survivals of

'

Petrie, Diospolis parva, p. 2[. See pi. vi., where pins, a combined comb

and pin, and also a spoon are to be seen still entangled in the hair of a woman.-

J. J.M. DE Groot, The Religions Systefu

ofChina, i. pp.

55-57

:

Amongthe hairpins provided for a woman's burial is almost always one whicii is adorned

with small silver figures of a stag, a tortoise, a peach, and a crane. These being

emblems of longevit}-, it is supposed that tlic pin which is adorned with them

will absorb some of their life-giving power, and communicate it to the woman

in whose hair it is ultimately fastened. Example (juoted by Frazer, The

Golden Bough, 2nd ed. i.p. 48.

Fig. 17.—Combs and a Pin, decorated

WITH Anim.\i. and Bird Figures.




earlier fashions? Observe, for example, the head-dress worn by

the queens, which is formed of the feathers of a vulture, with the

head of the bird arranged in front of the forehead.^ A large

number of instances of decorations for the hair comparable with

those of Egypt can be furnished by ethnology.

One solitary fact bears witness to the honour in which

elaborate hairdressing was held in primitive Egypt, and that is

the custom of depositing in the tombs head-rests, which were

used during sleep to preserve artistic coiffures, not intended to

be renewed every day, and which it was desirable to keep in

good order as long as possible.^

Fig. i8.—Band of False Hair.

From the tomb of King Zer, of the first dynast}'.

Under the Ancient Empire the charge of the king's hair

and of his wigs was bestowed on great personages. Maspero

mentions an inspector of wig-makers to the king, and also

a director of wig-makers to the king, contemporary with

with the fourth and fifth dynasties.^ Petrie discovered in the

tomb of King Zer, of the first dynasty, at Abydos, a band of

false hair (Fig. i8), composed of curls, and apparently intended

' See anexample

of this head-dressupon

the stela of

QueenNubkhas in

the Louvre (C 13), dating back to the tiiirteenth dynasty. It is the earliest

example I know.

-

Grosse, Les Debuts de VArt, pp. 67, 68.

^SciiURTZ, Urgesc/iic/ite der Kultm; Leipsic, 1900, p. t^'^c)

ct scq.

*Maspero, llistoirc anciamc dcs pciiplcs dc V Orient classh/Jte, i. p. 278,

note I.



PERSOxXAL xADORNMENT. 43

to be worn on the forehead.^ The Libyans of the tomb of

Seti I. are wearing two rows of simihir curls between their

hair, which is divided and falls on both sides of the head

(Fig. 19).

Very numerous examples show that the men ordinarily wore

their beards trimmed to a point. We shall meet with some of

these when we are considering representations of the human

figure.

Fig.19.

— -Head of one of theLibyans

from theTomb

of Seti I.

Showing the ear-ring, the rows of curls on the forehead, and the hair falling

over the right shoulder.

We must here pause a moment to consider a curious figure

in the MacGrcgor Collection- (Fig. 20), where the hair, as well

as the beard, is enveloped in a kind of pouch which com-

pletely conceals them. If it is not, as Naville suggests, a

1

Petrie, Abydos, i. pi. iv. 7 and p. 5: The fringe of locks is e.\(iuisiteiy

made, entirely on a band of hair, showing a long acqnaintance with hair work at

that age. It is now in the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford.

=*

Navillk, Fiiiiiriiics cgyf)ticnncs dc Vepoquc nrr/njn/ife, ii., in the Rccucil dc

iravaux rclalifs a la philologic ct a Varchcologic cgyptifiincsct assyrh'tincs,

x.xii.

1900, pi. vi. and p. 68.






paddn of the Magian^ religion ; or, again, with the Jewish custom

of covering the beard as a sign of mourning.^

There is a small series of interesting objects which affords a

proof that the custom of covering the lower part of the face

with a veil was already known in the second half of the primitive

period (sequence dates 50-61). These are small objects of shell,

of limestone, or, more rarely, of copper, which were suspended in

front of the forehead. At the base is a hook, which, as Petrie has

conjectured, was used to support a veil. One of these pendants

has been found still in position upon a skull, and shows clearly

the manner in which it was worn. One specimen, decorated

with lines in imitation of plaited work, points to the fact that

these pendants were also made of woven fibre, and this would

explain their rarity in the tombs, as only those in more enduring

materials would survive (Fig. 21). Other specimens have not

the hook at the lower end, and must therefore have been

worn merely as ornaments on the forehead. Two specimens

belonging to the Petrie Collection are in the form of female

figures.

It is possible that the pendants and veil before the face

were worn by men as well as by women, or even exclusively

by men, to judge by the custom of the Touaregs, and also

of certain Arabs.-^ After prehistoric times in Egypt there

are no traces of this custom of veiling the face, and it

' In the

Magiaiireligion the officiant has the lower part of the face covered

with a veil, the paddn (av. paitidana), which prevents the breath from defiling

the sacred fire,and the hands covered with gloves. Cf. Darmesteter, Zc7id

Avesia, i. p. l.xi. He also wears i\\^ paddn in eating, in order not to contaminate

the food, which he swallows at one gulp between two intakings of breath—ib. ii. p. 214, No. 31. The paddn was worn by the magi of Cappadocia, at

the time of Strabo (Augustus), xv. 733c , nupas ttiXcotus KadeiKVius iKaTipmdiv

/xf\pi Toi) KdXviTTfiv Tu XeiXi] Tiis Tvapciyvaîdas.—

(Note contributed by M. Franz

Cumont.)-

Benzinger, Hcbrdischc Arclidologic (Grundriss der theologischen Wissen-

schaften, Zweite Reihe, Erster Band), Freiburg i. B. and Leipsic, 1894,

p. 165.^Frazer, Tlic Golden Bought 2nd ed. i. p. 313: Among the Touaregs

of the Sahara all the men (and not the women) keep the lower part of their face,

especially the mouth, veiled constantly; the veil is never put off, not even in

eating or sleeping. Also note 3 :

Amongst the Arabs men sometimes veiled

their faces.



46 PRIMITIVE ART LX EGYPT.

was the Arabs who introduced it once more in the seventh

century A.D.^

Grosse, in his book Les Debuts de rArt'^ refers to an interesting

remark of Lippcrt :

The principle followed in selecting the

Fig. 21.—Ornaments for the Forehead.

The two upper ornaments have been used for hanging a veil before the faee.

portions of the body to be adorned with ornaments is governed

by practical considerations, and is a principle into which con-

'

Petrie, NcKiada, \A. Ixii. 21-23, '^ '^ P- 47 J D/ospolis pafua, pi. iii. and p. 22.

P?xhtstoric Egyptian Catin/igs, in Alan, 1902, No. 1 13, pp. 161, 162, and pi. 1. 5-7.

See SociN, A., Doctrines of El Islam, in Baedeker, Egypt, 5th ed. 1902,

p. Ixvii. The practice of wearing veils dates from very remote times (Gen. xxiv.

65 ;Isa. iii. 22, 23), though it is doubtful whether it was customary among the

ancient Egyptians, as veiled women never appear upon the monuments.''

2Pp. 63, 64.



PERSOXx'\L ADORNMENT. 47

siderations of ideal arrangement do not enter. . . . The parts

of the body which are destined to carry ornaments are those

contracted above larger portions which are bony or muscular.

These parts are the following : the forehead and the temples,

with the projecting bones below and the support afforded by

the ear, the neck and shoulders, the sides and hips ;with the legs

it is the part above the ankles;with the arms, the biceps, the

wrist, and in a lesser degree the fingers. Primitive man makes

use of all these for affixing ornaments;but he was not led to this

choice by aesthetic reasons, but by purely practical considerations.

We have already spoken of the arrangement of the hair among

the primitive Egyptians. We must now study their necklaces,

waist-belts, bracelets, and rings, and see in what manner clothing

may have developed out of these entirely elementary decorations.

The simplest form of such decoration consists in attaching to

different parts of the body thongs of leather, sinews of animals,

or herbaceous fibres. ^ These in turn were hung with shells,

beads, claws of animals,etc.

In Egypt shells frequently occur in prehistoric tombs. Pierced

with a hole, they were evidently used as ornaments,- and their use

was continued into historical times, when shells were even imitated

in glazed pottery, or in metal, to form parts of necklaces. I must

content myself with a mere reference to the marvellous jewels

found at Dahchour by M. de Morgan.^

A large number of beads have been discovered in the tombs

of the primitive Egyptians, of which the forms remain practically

the same throughout the whole of the prehistoric period. This

is not the case with the materials of which they were made

and Petrie has drawn up a chronological list of these with

considerable detail.^

Most of the ivory objects found in the tombs, \\hich Petrie

believes to be stoppers for leather bottles, I am inclined to consider

as necklace ornaments.

Theyare a

s[)ecies

of

pendant,

formed

•

DknuvER, Lcs races ct Ics peitples de la tcrrc, p. 211 ct scq.- De Morgan, Rcclicrchcs siir lcs origincs de Vflgyptc, ii. p. 59.•' De Morgan, Fouilles a Dahchour, March—June, 1894, Vienna, 1895,

pi. xxiii. and xxiv.

^

Petrie, Diospolis parva, pi. iv. and p. 27.




by the severed end of the rib or tusk of an animal, often pierced

at the top—

consequently, they must have been worn point down-

wards— deeply grooved at the wider end, and covered with broken

lines or with rudimentary geometric designs ^ (Fig. 22). Some of

these pendants are of stone;

others are hollow, and may have

been used as vases. At the upper end of most of these there is

a deep groove to allow of their being suspended by means of a

thong, which also passed through the hole with which many of

them are pierced. Numerous traces of leather have been found

in these cavities.^

0-J1

Fig. 22.—Pendants.

Showing the imitation of claws and of horns, decorated with incised or painted Hnes.

We shall have opportunity to discuss these pendants more

in detail when we treat of ornamental art. It should, however,

be observed that a certain number of these ornaments are made

in imitation of horns or claws, and are merely a conventional

copy of still more rudimentary ornaments. We can compare

them with the collars of the Bushmen, the cords made of

tendons andpainted

with red ochre, from which are suspended

shells, teeth, claws, the carapaces of turtles, antelope horns, and

other objects, serving partly as receptacles for tobacco and

^ De Mohgan, Recherches siir Ics origines de I'Agypte, ii. p. 62, 63,

2Petrie, Naqada, pp. 46, 47, pi. lix.-lxiv.

; Diospolisparva, p. 21, pL iii.




unguents, partly as amulets, and for the most part as objects

of personal adornment. ^

I need scarcely remark on the prevalent use of beads and

pendants in Pharaonic Egypt. A collection such as that of

Professor Petrie at University College, London, is highl}- instructive

with regard to these objects. Such a wealth of pendants for

necklaces— comprising claws, shells, and various amulets— is

well worth studying, as they are rarely found figured on the

monuments. It is not always justifiable to deny the existence

of a custom from an

argument

based solely on the absence of

an object from the figured monuments of Egypt.

Beads and other pendants were not only used for necklaces;

they were also employed as decorations for girdles, bracelets, and

anklets. The jewellery found by Petrie in the tomb of King

Zer, of the first dynasty, enables us to appreciate the skill

already acquired b\' the Egyptians at that period in combining

and grouping various materials and producing results which are

truly marvellous. The perfection of the jewellery is so great that,

as Petrie remarks, with the exception of the gold beads, there is

no bead in an>' one of the bracelets which could be exchanged

for any other of another bracelet, without completely destroying

the harmony of the whole.^

But, besides these bracelets formed of separate pieces, we

must notice the simple circlets made of various materials. They

are found in ivory, bone, copper, shell, flint, hard stone^ etc.^

This use survived into historical times, and the tombs of the

first dynasty at Abydos have yielded an immense number of

fragments of bracelets in ivory, horn, shell, slate, and stone.' A'

Grosse, Les Debuts dc PAii, ]>.68.

-

Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii pi i. pp. 16-19.•' See QuiBELL, El Kab, pp. 6, 7, 9, 10, 18, and pi. li. 2. Petrie, Xa(/ada,

pi. xliii. pp. 34, 42, 47. Alabaster: Petrie, Naqada, p. 29. Shell: tb. pp. 14, 47.

Horn, lb. pp. 14, 47. Copper: Petrie, Diospolis parva, p. 37. Ivory: Petkie,

Naqada, pp. 5, 14, 29, 47; Diospolis parva, p. 21, pi. x. Bone: Petrie,

Diosjjolis, pi. X. 23. Beads: ib. p. 33. Schist : Petrie, Naqada, p. 14. Flint :

ib. pp. 14, 51, 59; Diospolis, p. 36; Abydos, i. p. 16.

Shell : Petrie, Abydos, \. p. 17. Horn: Petrie, Eoyal Totnbs, ii. p. 39.

Ivory: ib. ii. pp. 24, 35, 37 ; Abydos, i. p. 5.Stone: Royal Tombs, ii. pp. 35, 37.

Schist : Abydos, i. p. 17. Bracelets of Aha : Royal Tombs, i. pp. 5, iS, 29 ;ii. p. 5.

Bracelets of Zer : ib. ii.i)p. 17, iS.

.1

-r




spoon^

(Fig- 23), the handle of which resembles an arm adorned

with a large number of these bracelets, similar in size and form,

shows us that they were worn in numbers sufficient to form a

sort of armature. Pleyte observes that this recalls the DangaBohr

which Schweinfurth found among the Bongoes.-

Petrie discovered a tomb containing the body of a child,

wearing on the arm nine or ten of these ivory rings, and he

mentions, in connection with this fact, that a carving of a

woman of the reindeer age in France shows the same system

o^ 0.26

C miKraiid?

Fig.23.

—Bone and Ivory Bracelets, and a Spoon with a Handle in Form

OF an Arm Wearing a Series of Similar Bracelets.

of ornamentation.^ It is probable that these rings were also

worn on the legs, as shown in the representation of the chief

of the land of Punt at Deir-el-Bahari.*

As a question of stone-working it is astonishing to find

primitive man making rings in flint.'' Many conjectures have

'

Petkie, Naqada, pi. .\liii. i (Ashmolean Museum, Oxtord).^Pleyte, Chapitrcs siipplc7ncntaires du Livrc des Marts, i. pp. 147, 148.

Schweinfurth, Artes Africanac, Leipsic and London, 1875, pi. iii. 12.

^Petrie, Naqada, pp. 42 and 47.

*

Pleyte, ib.fig. facing p. 147.

•* De Morgan, Recherches siir les origines de V]i,gypte, ii. pp. 60, 61,



pp:rsonal adornment51

been liazarded to explain the manner in which jthis was

accompHshed, but it remained for the fortunate discoveries of

Seton Karr at Wady-el-Sheikh to show us all the phases of

the work.^ The frequent occurrence on Egyptian monuments

of Pharaonic times of collars, bracelets, and anklets has frequently

been remarked on, and we need not therefore dwell longer on

that point.-

The primitive Egyptian was also well acquainted with finger-

rings, especially in ivory, either plain or decorated with a knob.

Twôvery

curiousspecimens show that occasionally they were

O.i'i

D. 23

D.iS

Fig. 24.—Ivory Rings.

decorated with figures of animals;one of these has two feline

animals on it,-^ and on the other are four haw^ks^

(Fig. 24).

So far we have not dealt with the decoration of the hips,

and this because there is not, to my knowledge, any monumentof the primitive period which shows us such a decoration. There

exists no statuette, no drawing, on which we can see a thong

of leather round the waist adorned with beads or pendants.

Rut it is difficult to say whether the beads and pendants which

'

ScHWEiNFURTH, Aegyptischev Ringe aus Kiescbnassc, in the Zcitschrift

fiir EtJmologic, xxxi. 1899, p. 496 ct scq. Forbes, Ott a collection of stotie

implementsi)t the

Mayer Musciitn,made

byM. H. IV. Seton Katr, in mines

ofthe ancient Egyptians discovered by hitti on the plateaux of the A'ile Valley, in

the Bulletin Liverpool Museum, ii. Nos. 3 and 4, pp. 78-80, andtig.

on p. 82.

2Erman, Life in Aticicnt Egypt, p. 227.

' A specimen in the MacGregor Collection, Tamworth (No. 1,409 rt).

'

Petrie, Naqada, pi. Ixii. 30 ;Ixiv. 78 and p. 47. Diospoiis, ix. 23 ;

X. 24, 25, and pp. 21, 22.




have been discovered may not ha\-c decorated that part of the

body as appropriately as they did the neck, arms, and legs. By

analogy, therefore, we can imply the use of ornamental girdles ;

and here we verge on the interesting subject of the origin of

clothing.

The skin of an animal is suspended from the cord tied

round the throat, and forthwith it is transformed into a

mantle. With the Fucgians this piece of skin is so scanty

that, in order to protect the body effectually, it has to be turned,

following the direction of the wind. The thong round the waist,

the belt, is also hung with various appendages, and becomes a

petticoat.

The leafy branches which are thrust by the Veddahs under

their waist-belts, the pieces of bark held by the same belt

among the Niam-Niam, the'

sarang'

of the Indo-Malay, -which

supplies the elements both of petticoat and of girdle— all these

are the prototype of the petticoat.^

Writing of the indigenous inhabitants of the Andaman

Islands, Grosse expresses himself as follows :

There is, however,

one tribe the women of which wear nothing round the waist but

a very fine string, from which some quite short fibres hang ;this

must evidently be a mere ornament.

Erman has already remarked that, under the Ancient Empire,

the Egyptians of the lower classes, principally those who were

brought bytheir

occupationinto habitual contact with

water,are occasionally represented as absolutely nude

;while their

fellow workers, for the most part, are wearing only a narrow girdle

with a few short strips hanging down in front.^ These can scarcely

be called articles of clothing ;and yet one would hesitate to

call them ornaments, if one were not assured by numerous

ethnological parallels.

I may add that in some cases this simple cord knotted

round the loins served as an amulet. On this subject I will

quote the curious observ'ation of Dr. Stacqucz, who, on the

V Deniker, Les races et les peiiplcs de la terrc, p. 312.^Grosse, Lcs Debuts de VArt, p. 70.

•'

Er.man, Life in Ancient Egypt, \>.212.




subject of the modern population of Thebes, writes thus :

The

greater number of boys were entirely nude, and among them

were some who might have been fifteen years old. But they

all wore a fine thread round their bodies in form of a eirdle

To go entirely naked was the natural course of events for

these folks, but it would have been the height of indecency

to have omitted to tie a thread round their loins, and no one

would have dared to show himself in that state. I asked the

reason of such a custom, and I was told that it had always

existed—that it was considered that the threadconcealed

their

nakedness, and that it represented the garments that they could

not wear owing to the high temperature of the country. I

myself believe that the thread should be considered as a species

of amulet, and for this reason : in some parts of Egypt it is

the habit to have a small cord tied by the sheikh round the

wrists and ankles as a preservative against sprains and other

accidents while working or walking. It is therefore possible that

the thread encircling the loins among the inhabitants of Thebes

is a similar practice passed into a habit, of which the reason

is forgotten.^

It should also be remembered that under the Second Theban

Empire the young female slaves and the dancing women wore

as their only clothing a girdle, which occasionally may have been

ornamented.^

Let us see how this wasduring

the

primitive age.

On the

famous painted tomb of Hierakonpolis, with which we shall later

have to deal at length, there are several personages whose only

garment appears to be a girdle knotted round the waist. The

same is seen on the palettes and mace-heads from the same

locality, where the fcjrms are already verging on those of the

Ancient Empire.''

'

Stacquez, I'Egypte,la basse Niihic ct Ic

Sinai, Liege, 1865, pp. 252, 253.See also Maspero, Histoire anciauie des peuples dc VOrient dassiquc, ii. ]x 526.

-

Erman, loc. cit. p. 216. Stratz, Ueber die Klcidung dcr iigyptischcn

Tdnzerinnen, in the Zeitschnft fiir dgyptische Spraclie mid Altertuinskundr,

xxxviii. 1900, ])p. 148, 149.•''

Capakt, La fete de frapper les Anait, in the Revue d'histoire des religions,

xliii. 1901, p. 255.




To this girdle various objects were attached, and two

of these can be recognized on existing objects with con-

siderable precision. One is the tail of an animal;

the other

is a sheath for protecting or concealing the lower part of the

bodv.

The warriors or huntsmen that we find represented on the

fragment of the Louvre palette wear the tail of an animal, possibly

a jackal, attached to their girdle (F ig. 25). It is interesting to

note that this caudiform decoration is

found among a considerable number of

nations.^ In Egypt, during the Pharaonic

age, the tail is an ornament of princes

and priests, and the Marseilles Museum

actually possesses a specimen in wood.-

The representations of tails on the objects

found at Hierakonpolis form exactly

the transition between the tails of the

primitive period of the Louvre palette,

and those of the king and gods on

Egyptian classical monuments.

With reference to the sheath just

mentioned, its purpose has been recognized

and its signification explained by M. Naville.'^ It can be specially

well recognized on the statuette in the MacGregor Collection

figured above (Fig. 20), and also upona considerable number of

ivory figures which we shall consider later. This is how it is

described by M. Naville: The most characteristic feature in this

statuette is the large sheath or horn, which, held by a narrow

girdle, covers the genital organs. ... It appears to be made of

some resisting material, such as metal, wood, or thick leather.

This sheath extends half-way up the stomach. It is composed

of a cylinder, to which is joined another narrower one, at the

^ For a fine example see DenUvER, op. tit. frontispiece.^

Maspero, Histoire ancieime dcs peiip/es dc V Orient classique, i. p. 55,

note 3.

^Grosse, Les Debuts de VAi't, p. 70, mentions among the Botocndos of

Brazil, according to Prince de Wied, an etui de feuilles qui cache Ics parties

genitales.'' See Yrjo Hn<N, The Origins of Art, London, 1900, pp. 215, 216.

Fig. 25.—Huntsman.

Wearing a feather on his

head, and the tail fixed

to his girdle.




commencement of which are two ovoid protuberances, which are

an attempt to imitate nature. . . .'

M. Naville was enabled to identify this with complete

certainty by a similar covering, which is, he says, a tradition,

a characteristic trait of that Libyan group w^hich, during

the nineteenth dynasty, allied itself with the people of the

Mediterranean to march against Egypt. This sheath during

the Egyptian period bore a special name;

it is called

At the same time that the tail and the sheath were attached

to the girdle, it was also possible to hang from it the skin of

an animal, a mat, or a piece of stuff, and the loin-cloth was

created. The animal's skin could with ease be placed as an

ornament on the shoulders;

it was easy to wrap oneself in a

mat, a skin or a piece of woven stuff, and in this manner the

mantle was evolved. All these elementary garments are found

in the historicperiod,

and also in theprimitive age.

The skin of a panther, girded round the loins and covering

the lower part of the body, was still in use among the negroes

of the Upper Nile at the time of the nineteenth dynasty. Placed

on the shoulders, it had become one of the insignia of certain

priests and nobles as early as the beginning of the Ancient Empire.*'

One of the wârriors of the painted tomb of the primitive age

at Hierakonpolis is thus clothed in a panther's skin, while his

adversary is holding a shield formed of a similar skin'

(Fig. 26).

'

Naville, Figiirincs cgyptiomes de Vcpoqiic arcJtaiquc, ii., in the Recucil dc

travaux relatifs a la pjiilologie ct a Varclicologic cgyptietmcs ct assyricniics,

xxii. p. 69 et seq.

^ See F. VON LusHAN, Zi(7- antht'opologischcn Stellung der alien Acgypier,

in Globus, Ixxi.w 1901, pp. 197-200: Aenliclie Taschen nun giebt es heute nocli

im Westlichen Sudan, besonders bei den Moba im Nordlichen Togo, wo sie

ganz allgemein von alien Mannern getragcn werden.

•'

Maspero, Histoire ancienne des paiplcs de l'Orient classiqiic, i. pp. 53 and 55,

and p. 53, note a.

'

Qlmbell & Greex, Hierakonpolis, ii.j) .

Ixxvi. :

I take the figure of tlie

man liolding up the skin as showing tliat lie Itas had it on his back, and has

had to remove it to nse as a shield. It is the origin of the shield from the

loose clothing skin, and from that the stiff shield with wood frame was derived.

But I do not think that it is here shown as a defensive shield alone. -Note

by Professor Petrie.



56 PRIMITIVE ART IN P:GYPT.

The loin-cloth, either narrow or wide, is frequently represented

on the primitive monuments on the palettes and maces of Hiera-

konpolis, in the tomb paintings, and again on the ivory figures.^

I am not at all certain that the women wore wide loin-cloths, and

it is with considerable doubt that I refer here to the painted

tomb of Hierakonpolis. I cannot assume with any certainty

that the two figures at the top of Plate Ixxvi. Hierakonpolis^ ii.

are intended to represent women;and yet the similarity of their

attitude with that of the female figures on the pottery appears

to be

noteworthy.Finally, the long cloak, the use of which in historic times

has been so ably dealt with by M. Maspero, appears several

times on the remains of the primitive age. There is, for instance,

Fig. 26.—Warriors.

Clothed in a panther skin, or holding a shield formed of a similar skin.

the figure of a woman in the British Museum,^ and several ivory

statuettes from Hierakonpolis, which show the cloak, sometimes

plain and sometimes decorated with geometric patterns. ' Petrie

has very justly compared the decorated mantle on one of these

figures with the fragments of leather painted in zigzag lines found

by him at Naqada, and they again may be compared with the

clothing of the Libyans of the tom.b of .Seti I.'' (Fig. 27). These

' For the loin-cloth or short skirt in Egypt during the Ancient Empire see

Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, pp. 202-206, and Sfiegelberg, Varia, xlviii. Zii

dent Galaschurz dcs alien RcicJtcs^ in the Rcciieil dc travatix rclatifs a la pliilo-

Ivgie et d VarcJicoloiîe cgyptienftcs ct assyricnncs, xxi. 1S99, pp. 54, 55.-

Maspero, Histoirc aticienne des peuples de rOtie7it classiqtie, i. pp. 55-57.^

Budge, A History of Egypt, i. p. 53.''

Qui BELL, Hieraiconpolis, i. pi. ix. and x.

•'

Petrie, Naqada, pi. Ixiv. 104 and p. 48. See also Petrie, T/ie Royal Tombs

0/ the Earliest Dynasties, ii. pi. iv.3, 4, 5.






be slipped through loops, on the principle of ouv military frogs.

Petrie discovered examples of these in glazed pottery in the teinenos

of the temple of Osiris at Abydos.^

We have now arrived at the close of our study of personal

adornment as it existed in primitive Egypt—this earliest mani-

festation which is }'et so rich in artistic feeling. The immediate

conclusion to be drawn from these researches is that it is not

possible—at an\' rate in this sequence of ideas—to prove that

there were sudden and radical changes at the commencement of

the Pharaonic period, and that thereis

no glaring discrepancybetween the habits ot the primitive people and those which we

find under the Ancient Egyptian Empire. It now remains to be

seen whether we can maintain this conclusion when our attention

is directed to the examination of ornamental art.

'

Petrie, Abydos, ii. pi. i. and viii. 141-143, and p. 26. On the subject of

comparing primitive clothinc; in Egypt with that of the Ancient Empire, I think it

well to quote a remark of Fetrie's. After describing the garments found in the

tombs of the fifth dynasty at Deshasheh, he adds:

''

It is remarkable that not onedress was found of the form shown on the monuments, with shoulder-straps ;

but

the actual form seems to have been developed out of that by extension of the

shoulder-straps along the arms. Hence the monumental dress must have been

•only an artistic survival in the Old Kingdom.' —Petrie, Deshasheh, London,

1898, p. 31.





6o PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

it that they are thus ornamented ? Those who have studied

the problem tell us that objects—and we must also add the

body—are ornamented from a variety of motives : from a view

to art, to information, a desire for luxury or for power, and

finally from religious or magical motives.^

These principles are established, but before proceeding to

apply them in the case of the primitive Egyptians, in order

to render our statement clear, it is necessary that we should

consider some complementary details which bear upon these

general principles, and give various

examples

which will enable

us more easily to understand their bearing.

To begin with, let us see how a graphic representation of

an animal can be transformed into a geometric design ;this

will enable us to discover the laws which govern the treatment

of natural models.

One of the most interesting examples from this point of

view is furnished by Holmes' important work on the ancient

art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia- (Fig. 28).

The principal theme is the alligator, which, passing from

degradation to degradation, from simplification to simplification,

ends by becoming transformed into a series of absolutely regular

geometrical designs. Fig. 28 shows more clearly than any

explanation can do the successive phases of this transforma-

tion, which is logically accounted for by two great principles

which dominate the whole question. The first is the principle

of simplification, by virtue of which primitive man, like the

child, attempts to give to animals and objects which he

represents a form which is fixed and easily recognizable, and

which he simplifies more and more—this can only be owing

to idleness— diverging, in consequence, more and more widely

from the original model.^

'

Haddox, Evolution in Art as illi(stralcd by the Life-histories of designs,

London, 1895, pp. 4, 5,illustration on p. 8

;see also pp. 200-306.

-

Holmes, W. H., Aucietit art of the province of Chiriqui^ Colombia, in the

Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1884-5, Washington, 1S88.

My mention of the work is taken from Haddon's book mentioned in the preced-

ing note.

^Grosse, Les Debuts dc I'Art, pp. 107 and 1

19.






And if we seek to review the origin of tliis taste for

rhythm among primitive men, Grosse gives us a concise ex-

planation of its genesis :

If we attribute an aesthetic importance

to this rhythmic order, which is so prevalent in the decorative

art of hunting tribes, we do not in any wây pretend that its

origin was of the same order. We are, on the contrarx', con-

vinced that the primitive artist did not invent the symmetrical

principle, but that he found it, and that he found it in the

work of the basket-maker, who is obliged to arrange his

material in a regular manner. It is probable that it was from

habit, and not for aesthetic pleasure, that textile designs were

at first imitated;

it was only by degrees that their aesthetic

value was recognized, and that the artist began to combine

and enrich these regular series. Obviously it would be difficult

to say where mechanical imitation ends and where aesthetic

work begins ;in any case, it would be equally justifiable to

assert that regular arrangement has produced the pleasure

experienced in observing symmetry, as it would be to assert

that it is that pleasure which has provoked regular arrange-

ment.^

In other words, designs inspired by manufactured objects

(skeuomorphs) have imposed their derivatives on designs derived

from natural objects.

Thus, in the foregoing example, there is, to begin with, a

copy of an alligator;

this is next reduced to its most charac-

teristic features, and from the time its fundamental features, its

general lines, have been recognized, the representations of the

animal are symmetrically combined, and adapted to the space

to be decorated, whether square, oblong, or circular. The

principle of rhythmic order here leads to the successive repetition

of the same figures, in such a way as to form the decoration

of the whole of an object, and under the influence of these

two principal factors the most diversified geometrical designs

are derived from one and the same representation of the

alligator.

Another example borrowed from Polynesian art (Fig. 29)

'

Grosse, loc. cit. pp. 114, 115.



ORNAMENTAL AND DECORATIVE ART. 63

distinctly shows the degradation of the human figure, following

the same principles.^

The stone idols of the Aegean Islands afford another proof.

In addition to small figures, where the human representation is

fairl}^ accurate, there are also others in the shape of a violin. -

For the successive transformations of a floral design it will

be sufficient to quote the instance of the lotus, which has been

so admirably worked out by Goodyear'^ as to render it un-

necessary to dwell longer on this point.

Fig. 29.—Evolution of the Representation of the Human Figurf- in

Polynesian Art.

From Haddon.

With regard to designs inspired by manufactured objects^

the two most important types to be mentioned are :—

designs

derived from the thongs or cords which originally served to-

unite two objects ;and designs copied from the work of the

'

Haudon, Evo/uM'on m Ari, hg. 124, 125, 127, 128, pp. 271, 273. See another

example in Collier, Primer of Art, London, 1882, fig. 3,series of paddles,

p. 7 (now in the Pitt-Rivers Collection, University Museum, Oxford).-

Blinkenbekg, Cm?., Aittiquiics prcinycciiioiiu's, in tlie Mcmoircs dc la

Socicte royale dcs antiqiiaircs du Nord, new series, 1896, pp. 13, 14.

'Goodyear, W. H., The Granwiar of the Lotus, 1891.



64 .PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

basket-maker. Both of these occur with equal frequency, and a

few words will suffice to explain how they came into being.

When two objects—for instance, a blade and handle—are joined

by strapping, the interlacing of the straps forms an actual

geometrical decoration. If the latter is copied in another

material in one single piece, the idea would naturally occur

to the primitive mind to reproduce these interlacing lines, and

this is what invariably occurs.

1 will recall the well-known instance of architecture in wood

communicatingits forms to architecture in stone. Another

verytypical example has also been established as presented on the

pottery of almost all countries. I refer to the decoration re-

sembling a cord formed on vases most frequently at their

widest part, which is nothing but the remaining trace of

the cord of coarsely-twisted fibre which keeps the vases separate

from each other while they are being dried in the sun previous

to being baked.^

The industry of basket-making plays an important part in

the daily life of primitive people, and almost always makes

its appearance earlier than ceramics. It appears that pottery-

making often commences with a cast taken from an interior

or exterior mould, usually a basket, or some other object of

basket-work which burns immediately in the baking.'^

It is easily understood that in this case the combinations of

regular lines of the woven basket left their marks on the soft

clay, and formed an actual geometrical decoration on the baked

pottery, which continued to be reproduced after pottery was

manufactured by another method.

At the commencement of this chapter I stated that an object

is frequently transformed by decoration, and becomes unfit for

the purpose for which it was originally destined. We shall have

-occasion later on to deal with curious examples of this. To make

this point clear without delay I will, however, quote the very

' Petri E, Eiryptian Decot-ative A?-i, p. 92.2DenuvER, op. cit. p. 184. SciiwEiNFURTH, Onuimcutik dcr dltcstcn

Cultur-Epoclic Acgyptc7is, in the Ver/iaiidli/ngc?i dcr b. Gcscllsck. fur Antliro-

J>ologie, Ethnologie, imd Urgeschichte, 1897, pp. 377, 378.






determine the rights of each man to the animals killed in the

chase. Thispoint

is

important,for it has

playeda considerable

part in the history of writing during the most primitive stages

of its development.

It was the desire for ostentation which gave rise to highly

decorated objects, especially to weapons of state, which thus

rapidly developed into tokens of power. It was the desire for

luxury which produced those objects which are absolutely useless,

but the possession of which ensured to their proprietor a sub-

stantial reputation among the tribe. In a parallel manner, votive

objects developed where the attempt was made to augment their

value by employing either a more precious material, or by

applying more studied and complicated ornamentation.

tiG. 31.— Magical Decoration on a Comb of a Malacca Tribe.

From Haddon.

F inally, one of the most usual reasons for decorating objects

is religion or magic, and the magical combs of a Malacca

tribe furnish us with an excellent example. The women wear

in their hair a variety of decorated combs, with the object of

preserving the wearers from certain specified maladies. They

possess about twenty or thirty of these combs for different

maladies, and cause them to be placedin

their graves as a

safeguard for their possessor from those ailments in the ne.xt

world. A different design corresponds to each malady, and the

designs are purely geometrical^ (Pig. 31)- Other instances, equally

well known, show us how important it is to be cautious in ex-

plaining the ornamentation of any object. It may have some

meaning, but without explanation from the natives we cannot

find the correct interpretation. Unfortunately, with objects of

antiquity, the necessary explanations are almost entirely wanting.

These fundamental principles are established, and without losing

sight of them, we can now enter upon the study of the ornamental

or decorative art of the primitive Egyptians. To begin with, is

' Haddon, Evolution in Art, p. 236 etsec/., tig. 120, p. 240.



ORNAMENTAL AND DECORATIVE ART. ^-j

there not already artistic feeling in the act of the primitivê man,

who,not content with

supplyinghimself with tools suited to

the requirements the>' are intended to fulfil, attempts to give

them forms as perfect and elegant as possible ? We shall

have the opportunity of pointing out how far the primitive

Egyptians attained perfection in each class of objects we pass in

review.

We will begin with flint knives. I believe I do not exag-

gerate when I say that in no other country in the world has the

Fig. 32.—Flint Knife, worked and retouched on both Faces.

Brussels Museum; length, 25cm.

working of flint been carried to such perfection. It is not easy

to admire sufficiently the perfection of the working and the

beauty of the forms of the large, finely finished knives discovered

in the tombs. The flakes have been struck off these objects with

such precision that the ribs left by the work upon the edge and

the back are symmetrically arranged, and correspond with each

other. The meeting of the ribs forms a very regular ridge down

the centre of the blade ^(Fig. 32).

' De Morgan, Rcchcrchcs stir les origines de Vl'igyptc, i. pp. iri, 112; ii.

pp. 107-109. See Petrie, Naqada^ pi. Ix.wi., and passages indicated in the




The part of the knife which was held in the hand was probably

covered with leather. Specimens exist which have gold and

Fig.

33.—Gold Leaf with Incised Designs, sewn on to one end of a large

Flint Knife to form the Handle.

ivory handles decorated with figures. The most remarkable of

these handled knives is in the Cairo Museum.^ The eold leaf

index under Flint Knives, especially pp. 57-60; Diospolis parva, pi. iv. and

pp. 23, 24, where the development of the shape of the knife during the prehistoric

period is traced. See Quibell, Flint daggerfrom Gebclcin, in the Annales dii

service des antiquites de I'Jigy'ptc, ii. 1901, pp. 131, 132, etc.

' Provenance: De Morgan, Kecherches, i. p. 112, Environs d'Abydos, peut-

etre a Saghel-el-Baglieli on a Abydos mcme ;

ii. p. 266, Qui provient de

Guebel-el-Tarif. A's\Kh\NKA\j, Les nouvellcs fouil/cs d'Ahydos, 1895-6; Comptcrendu in exlenso, Paris, 1899, p. 267:

Les fouilles d'El-Amrah ont fourni

^galement des silex en petit quantity. Lor.sque j'eus retire les ouvriers, I'un

d'eux resta sur le lieu des fouilles pour fouiller illicitement : il trouva le couteau

reconvert d'une feuille d'or qui contenait la representation d'animaux divers.''




which covers a part of the knife is not soldered, but sewn on

by means of gold thread. On the point at one side two in-

terlaced serpents are engraved, the spaces being filled up with

rosettes;on the other side there are nine figures of animals—

lions, gazelles, antelopes, and a fantastic animaP (Fig. 33). The

design of interlaced serpents is especially interesting to meet

with, as it is also seen on the Chaldean monuments.

In the same museum at Cairo there is also a dagger with a

solid gold handle fixed to the blade by means of three rivets.

The handle is decorated with incised figures:

on one side are three

women, one of whom holds a fan;on the other side, there is a boat ^

Fig. 34.— Figures of Women and of a Boat on a gold Knife-handle.

(Fig. 34). Another dagger from the same place had an ivory

handle, only fragments of which remain;and in the Pitt-Rivers

Collection, Farnham, Dorset, there is a large Hint knife, the ivory

handle of which is decorated on both faces with a series of

animals* (Fig. 35).

Finally, in the Petrie Collection, University College, London,

' De Morgan, Re.cher&hcs, i. pp. 112-115, and fig. 136 ;

ii.[)1.

v.

^

Sculptured vase of Gudea. See Heuzey, Mhscc national dii Louvre:

Catalogue des antiqidtes chaldcennes ; Sculptiife et grai'/ire d la pointc, Paris,

1902, pp. 280-285.^QuiBELL, Flint daggerfrom Gebeleitt, loc. cit. p. 131.

''

Petrie, Nar/ada, pi.l.\-xvii. and p. 5 1. De Morga.n, Rcclwrchcs, ii. pp. 266, 267.

The whole of the knife has been produced in a plate intended for a work on the

Pitt-Rivers Collection, but which, I believe, has never been published. A

copy of this plate is exhibited in the Pitt-Rivers Collection at the University

Museum, Oxford;another copy is m the Edwards' Library, University College,

London. Its provenance is indicated thus upon the plate: Obtained by the

Rev. Greville Chester in 1891 from Sheyk Hamadeh, near Souhag.



ô PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

there are two interesting pieces. One is a handle, possibly of

a knife, bearing on one of its faces a design which occurs

frequently—a feline animal chasing a gazelle ;on the other

there is a quaint representation, in which Professor Petrie sees

the hippopotamus goddess Tanrt seizing a crocodile, perhaps to

Fig. 35.— Ivory Knife-handle in the Pitt-Rivi:rs Collection.

devour it. With her right hand she grasps a foot of the

crocodile, and with her left she holds its tail (Fig. 36). Upona steatite prism discovered by Greville Chester at Karnak, and

presented Ijy him to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, there is a

man standing and holding a crocodile by the tail. This repre-

sentation may perhaps be connected with the figures of the






figures^ (Fig- 39, No. 7) ;and there is also the handle of an

instrument—a spoon or a knife—in form of a lion, which probably

came from Hierakon polls, and is now in the Ashmolean Museum,

Oxford.

Combs present a much greater variety of types, and enable

us to follow more closely the evolution of the forms. Both single

and double combs were used ;the most frequent type was that

of a small human or animal figure, furnished with teeth at the

lower part, as a means of fixing it in the hair. There are several

--' ^

_:-:.^**'

Fig. 37.—Small Flint Knife with Ivory Handle.

Petrie Collection, University College, London.

specimens which have for ornament the human face, drawn in

a summary manner, and gradually simplified until merely the

outline of the face is represented^

(Fig. 40).

The representations of animals offer still more variety. It

is remarkable how the antelope, which is very clearly characterized,

is

by degrees degraded

to the point of being unrecognizable,

and of being confused, as in the last specimen of Fig. 41, with

1

QuiBELL, FIhit daggerf1-07)1 Gcbclein, he. cit. pi. i. 7.

2 Petrie, Naqada, pi. lix. 5.De Morgan, Rccherchcs, i. p. 147, fig. 342, and

ii. p. 62, fig. 136.






of the axis of the comb (Fig. 42). Other specimens, again, show

the combination of the two designs of quadrupeds and birds'

(Fig- 43)-

Owing to the generous kindness of Herr von Bissing, I am

able to reproduce here a magnificent ivory comb decorated with

figures of animals. This comb belongs to M. Theodor M. Davis,

and \'ôn Bissing will shortly publish a detailed account of it.

IDITJTT^-^ ^^m^-^t^

Fig. 39.—Ivory Spoon-handles.

which will enable us to draw interesting conclusions from this

very fine piece of work (Figs. 44 and 45).

Before

leaving

this

subject,

I must once more remind the

reader of the magical role which these combs were apparently

intended to fulfil, and on which I have already dwelt at some

length.

^ De Morgan, Recherches, i. y. 148, fig. 243.



ORNAMENTAL AND DECORATIVE ART./ 3

The hair-pins, while they show

the same zoomorphic designs as

the combs—birds and bulls' heads—have also regular incised lines

on the pin itself, which form the

first example we meet with of an

ornamentation derived from tech-

nique. They evidently represent

the binding wrapped round the

pin, which attached it firmly to

the carved ornament—bull's head,

bird, etc.— at the top^

(Fig. 46).

' • • ••

• • »

\ < f Uii^

fl'

*1|MU^Fk. 40.—Ivory Combs with Human

Figures.

Petrie Collection.

KhM

9 6^

lli.VLVii

Fig. 41.—Ivory Combs with Figures of Antelopf.s and CiIkakI'Es.

'

Petrie, Naqada, pi. l.viii. and l.\iv. ; D/ospolis, pi. \. Dk Mokgan, RcchcrchcSy

i. pp. I4<S, 149. MacIvkr & Mace, El Ainrali, jii..\ii. 2, 3.




When wc turn to tlie consideration of pendants, we find

exactly the same designs reappearing on a whole series of

objects in stone, ivory, and bone. Their purpose is not easy

to determine; possibly they were mere ornaments. They have

a groove and hole at the lower end, and if suspended by them,

Fig. 42.—Ivory Combs with Figures of Birds.

the figures, of course, hang upside down. This may be a device

to enable the wearer to see them as they hang. These objects

are carved with representations of human figures (F'ig. 47), with

birds more or less conventionalized, with bulls' heads,* and also

' Men: Petrie, Naqada, pi. lix. Ix.—Birds: ib. lix. Ixii. and Ixiv.

; DiospoUs

pi. X. xi. xii. Dk Morgan, (Jrigmcs, ii. pp. 64 and 143. MacIvkr & Mace,

El Amrali and Abydos, pi. x. 7.—Bulls: Petrie, Naqada, pi. Ixii. 37 and 51;

DiospoUs, vii. 1.






and from which new forms were eventually derived which were

solely geometrical.I know only one palette which represents the human form.

It belongs to the Petrie Collection, University College, London

(P ig. 52). Another specimen in the same collection is a palette

surmounted by the figure of an antelope (?),the head of which

has disappeared (Fig. 53). With other specimens, on the contrary,

it is the entire palette which represents grosso viodo the lines of

Fig. 44.—Ivory Comb, Recto.

Davis Collection.

Fig. 45.—ÎvoRY Comb, Verso.

Davis Collection.

the animal. Among the palettes representing antelopes we must

notice one where Petrie recognizes the ibex or the mouflon^

(F ig. 54). Other specimens are carved in imitation of the elephant,

hippopotamus- (Fig. 55),

and lion^

(Fig- 55^).

The palettes in

1

Petrie, Naqada, pi. xlvii. 1-4; Dwspolis, pi. xi. i. Budge, A History

of Egypt, i. p. 59, 20,910 and 35,049. Quibell & Green, Hierakonpolis, ii.

pi.Ix-iv. 17.

-

Petrie, Naqada, pl. xlvii. 5-8; Diospolis, pi. xi. 4, 5. Berlin, No. 11,341.

*

MacGregor Collection.



ORNAMENTAL AND DECORATIVE ART 79

form of a tortoise are very instructive;we see there that, after

having entirely mistaken the character of the feet, they did

not scruple to let them disappear entirely, or even to transform

them into heads of antelopes^ (Fig- 5^).

V

Fig. 46.—Ivory Pins decorated with Figures of Birds and a Bull's

Head.

Fish palettes, which are often shaped with great care, end by

losing all characteristic form (Fig. 57). A remarkable example is

^

Petrie, Naqada, pi. xlvii. 9-12, 14, and 18; Diospolis, pi. .\i. 6, 9,10.

Budge, A History of Egypt, i. p. 60, 23,061. Berlin, No. 10,595.




one in the centre of our F\^. 57, where the tail of the fish has

itself been transformed into a still smaller fish.^

4f

Fig. 47.—Slate and Ivory Pendants.

University College, London.

The most curious case is that of the bird. At first easily

recognizable- (Fig. 58), it promptly becomes modified. It is

^

Petrie, Naqada, pi. xlviii. 51, 52, 60; Diospolis, pi.

xi. 15-18, 27, 29.^

Newberry, Extracts frotn tfiy Notebooks, v. No. 36, in the Proceedings

of the Society of Biblical Archceology, xxiv. 1902, p. 251 and pi. ii.



ORNAMENTAL AND DECORATIVE ART. 8i

carved in duplicate, in order to give a symmetrical form to the

palette ;the plain surface on which the colour is rubbed is

lengthened out of all proportion until, after a long succession

of changes, the head of the bird, the only part remaining,

finally becomes absorbed, and the palette presents a form where

it would be impossible to recognize the original type, had not

the intermediate specimens been preserved^

(Fig. 59).

c^

w

iÔ 0@GOO Q O O)

^ r~^

HiiH I ^niim im I

-UWUUUOLUlUUAAAiJ

Fig. 48.—Slate and Ivory Pendants decorated with Derived Designs.

I wish to draw special attention to a palette in form of a

bird belonging to the Pctrie Collection, University College,

London, which closely resembles the figures of birds carved in

the round that we shall have occasion to study later on (Fig. 60).

Other formsmight

bequoted

which do not

appearto

belongto any of the above types.

So much for the shapes of the palettes. An attempt was

Petrie, Naqada, pi.xlvii. 21, 23, 24, 29, 30, 32 ; pi. .\li.x. 64, 6y, 72, 81, 82,

S6, 89, 91, 92. Diospolis, pi.xii. 35, 38.

6




made to render them still more like their models by the aid

of incised lines, especially on those in form of a fish, where the

shape was less characteristic than those representing antelopes

or birds.^ In connection with these complementary lines there

are palettes of geometrical forms which also have figures incised

on them. On one of these the figure of an elephant has been

found-;

others have representations of the crocodile, and also

Fig. 49.—Stone and Ivory Pendants with Incised Line Decoration,

IN some Cases filled up with a Blackish Paste.

a figure of an indeterminate animal* (Fig. 61). A palette dis-

covered at Diospolis (tomb B 102) also bears in low relief a

figure difficult to identify^ (Fig. 61).

' In addition to the jialettes mentioned m tliepr( ccdini^ notes, numerous

specimens will be found in Petrie, Naqada, pi. xlvii.-l. and ji. 43; Diospolis^

pi.xi. xii. and p. 20. MacIver & Mace, EI yb/iiali and A/iydos, jil.

vii. viii.

and X.

*Petrie, Diospolis, pi. v. and xii. 43.

^ Ue Morgan, Origincs, ii.j). 144, and Berlin Museum, No. 12,877.

* De Morgan, ib.

*

Petrie, Diospolis, pi. v. B 102.



•-0RNAMP:NTAL and decorative art. 83

A very fine specimen belonging to the Petrie Collection,

Fig. 50.—Plaque in the Berlin Museum (Recto).

Shell (?).

University College, London, is engraved on both faces with

1' iG. 51.— Plaque in the Berlin IVIuseuhi (Veuso).

Shell (?).

ibex facing each other; ivory beads are inserted in the eye

cavities (Fig. 62). Two other specimens, one discovered at



84 TRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

Hu (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) and the other of unknown

provenance (University College, London)are inscribed with

very

Fig. 52.—Palette with a Human

Figure at the Top.

Fig. 53.—Palette with a

Figure of an Antelope,

THE Head missing.

summary designs of animals ^

(Fig. 62). Finally, the most in-

teresting discovery is a somewhat recent one by Mr. Maclver,

' The first is the specimen published without description by Petrie, Diospolis,

pi. XX. 20.




who found a palette with two signs resembling hieroglyphs

carved in relief on the face. Before stopping to dwell on this

important point wc must remark that a considerable number of

palettes arc pierced with a hole for suspension, which proves

that they could be hung or carried on the body ready to be

employed for grinding colour;while the smaller ones indicate

that in course of time these palettes were occasionally converted

Fig. 54.—Palettes in Form of Anieloi'es.

into amulets. The accuracy of this instance of the transforma-

tion of the ordinary object into an ainulet is attested by the

fact that in the

MacGregorCollection at Tamworth, there are

some very minute palettes, the dimensions of which absolutely

preclude the possibility of employing them for grinding paint.

One of these is the shape of Palette 69, of our Fig. 59, and

measures 44 millimetres in height ;the others, of rhomboidal

form, measure respectively 80, 58, 56, and 39 millimetres.



Fig. 55.—Palettes in Form of Elephants and Hippopotaml

Fig. 56.—Palettes in Form ok Tortoises.



Fig. 55A.—Palette in Form of a Lion.


Xen

O

0;

o

tn

HHU-1

<

d




We must now turn our attention to the palette found by

Mr. Randall Maclver at El Amrah(Fig. 6],).

What are the

signs carved on it, and what is their meaning ?

In an article published at the time of the discov'cry of this

palette Mr. Maclver wrote ^: It is by far the earliest example

yet found of the use of hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphic writing has

been known to exist in a well-developed form as early as the

first dynasty, but this slate belongs to a period considerably

before Menes, the first king of the first dynasty.

Writing again with modified views on this subject in his

\\

\

'^m ^

Fig. 58.—Palette in Form of a Bird.

Brussels Museum; height, lo cm.

memoir on the excavations at El Amrah, Mr. Maclver points

out, with Petric and Griffith, the analogy of the sign on the

palette with one of the standards of ships (wc shall speak

of these later), and with the signs engraved on the archaic

statues of the god Min discovered by Petrie at Koptos, and

he carries his hypothesis no farther than the statement that

we have here a sign similar to the emblem of this god

Min.2

Reduced to these proportions, the discovery became no less

'

MacIver, D. R., a P7-ehistoric Cemetery at El Amrah in Egypt : Pre-

limi?iary Report of Excavations, \n Man, i. No. 40, April, 1901.^ MacIveh & Mace, El Amrah and Abydos, pp. 37, 38.




Fig. 59.— Pai F.TTKS of Bird Form.




important, because, as the author remarks, it was the first

example of palettes carved in relief. The MacGregor Collection

furnishes us with another example of this (Catalogue i,758h).

At the top of this palette two birds are carved in relief;

they face each other, and their bodies follow the outline of

the palette. The interest of this piece is very great, as it

shows as clearly as possible the transition between the pre-

historic palettes and the proto-dynastic palettes of which we

have such remarkable specimens (Fig. 64).

Our first acquaintance with these was owing to the excava-

tions of Mr. Ouibell at Hierakonpolis, which led to the discovery

Fig. 60.—Bird-shaped Palette.


of two marvellous palettes covered with carvings in low relief.

These constitute evidence of the first order for the history of

the making of Egypt. They have the great merit of having

definitely fixed the period to which should be allocated various

fragments of objects of the same kind preserved in different

museums. Here the simple palettes for grinding malachite,

which are found in the greater number of prehistoric tombs

at the period of the earliest dynasties, have developed into

objects of lu.xury, votive offerings deposited in the temples and

perhaps intended to commemorate important rcligimis festivals.

This is another instance of the evolution of decorated objects

of which we spoke at the cuinmencement of this chapter. VVe




shall return later to the scenes depicted on these great palettes,

on the assumption that they relate more to sculpture than

to decorative art.

The same may be said of the votive maces from the same

temple of Hierakonpolis, which furnish another instance of common

Fig. 61.—Palettes decokatkd with Incised Figures.

objects becoming actual objects of luxury, of huge proportions,

and in consequence rendered entirely unfit for their origmal

purpose.

Speaking generally,stone macc-heads may be divided into

two principal classes. The first, and the most ancient, arc ni

the form of a disc. These are most frequently found in syenite





ORNAMENTAL AND DFXORATIVE ART. 93

and ]X)rphyry, and more rarely

in alabaster.^ The others are

pear-shaped, and are found in

basalt, haematite, breccia, alabaster,

and above all in a compact white

limestone. This latter form ap-

pears at least as early as the

fourth dynasty, and throughout

all the history of Egypt as an

emblemin the hands of the

king.

A- hieroglyphic sign, j,which

conve\-s the idea of whiteness and

distinction, has

also perpetuated

the-figure.-

.^SB^

\ Two speci-

mens dis-covered at

D i o s p o 1 i s

i

I

Fig. 64.—Palktte.

With two birds carved in reliei.


Fig. 63.—Palette.

With a sign (hieroglyphic ?)

in relief.

Parva still retain their handles,^ one

of ivory and one of horn. Some

mace-heads are of a different form,

resembling a double hammer with

1 At the British Museum these objects are

not considered to be mace-lieads. See Budge,

A Guide to the Third and Fourth Egyptian

Roo7ns, 1904, p. 48, Nos. 63-84. The proof

tiuit these pieces are really mace-heads will be

found in tlie representations on painted coffins

of the Middle Empire. See Lei'SIUS, Aclicste

Texte des Todtcnbuchs nach Sarcophagen dcs

altiigyptischcn Reichs iin Berliner Museum,

Berlin, 1867, pi.xx.wiii. Lacau, Sarcophages

antericurs au nouTel empire : Catalogue

general des antiquites cgyptiennes du musee

du Caire, 1904, pi.Ixiii. 277.

-Petrie, DiospoUs parva, p. 24 and pl. iv.

;

Naqada, pl. xvii.

*Petrie, Diospolis pan'a, pl. v.




pointed ends ^

(Fig- 65). Tliese mace-heads are usually without

ornamentation. Nevertheless, a specimen in limestone was dis-

covered at El Amrah decorated with black spots.^ I am disposed

to believe that some objects discovered by Petrie at Naqada

are of the same class. He considers them to be a form of

toy, having regard to the materials of which they are made—limestone and soft sandstone ^

(Fig. 66).

At Hierakonpolis, besides the show pieces I have just alluded

to, Mr. Quibell discovered an enormous number of mace-heads,^

which must have been merelyfor ceremonial

use, judging,with

Mr. Ouibell, from the fact that the hole for the handle is not

Fig. 65. —Mace-heads from Hierakonpolis and Naqada.

always completely pierced. Mace-heads are occasionally found

decorated with incised lines extending from the summit to the

base (see Fig. 65, No. 23). The Berlin Museum possesses a

curious mace-head in hardstone,

which has been carvedwith

weird effect in the shape of a tortoise (No. 15,716, Fig. 6j^.

Another in the same museum (No. 15,142) is decorated with

three designs derived from the bull's head type, of which we

shall speak presently. The MacGregor Collection at Tamworth

possesses two mace-heads, on one of which a human head is

carved, and on the other two human heads, similar to those on

the vase of ourP'ig. 69 (Nos. 3,495 and 3,779).

'

Petrie, Naqada, pi. xvii. 23 (Aslimolean Museum, Oxford). A liaminer-

shaped inace in the MacGregor Collection (No. 1,720) is terminated at one end byan animal's liead.

- MacIver & Mace, El Amrah and Ahydos, pi. x. 6 andp. 16.

•''

Petrie, Na(/ada, pi. vii. and p. 35 (Aslimolean Museum).'

Quibell & Green, Hic7-akonpolis, ii. pi. xxvii. p. 41.




Finally, there are two macc-heads or sceptres which cannot

be compared with any others known. One is of ivory, and is

carved with three rows of captives, represented with their arms

tied behind their backs, and fastened together in single file by

a cord passed round their necks ^

;the other is in serpentine,

carved in relief with alternate figures of dogs and lions. These

two pieces belong to the commencement of the historic period,

and are masterpieces of workmanship (Fig. 68).

The perfection of the form of these mace-heads, made of the

hardeststones,

and— at

anyrate in the earliest

period

—without

Fig. 66.—Di corated Mace-heads in Soft Stone.

the aid of metal tools, is marvellous. Our amazement can

onh' increase if we examine the stone vases which arc found

in the tombs as early as the commencement of the prehistoric

period.

Of these Petrie writes :

Throughout the whole prehistoric

age, from immediately after the rude savage burials of (sequence

'

QuiEKLL, Ilierako)ipolis, i. pi. xii. and ii. pi.xx.xvii.

^ OuiBELL & Green, Hierakonpolis, ii.pi.

xxiii. Ixvi. and p. 38; i.]>1.

xix.

On Fig. 68 is another mace-head from Hierakonpolis representing the lore part of

two l)iil s or rams. Hifrakonpolis, i. pi. xix. 3,xxv. and p.

8;

ii. p. 38. An

analogous specimen from IIu is now, like the preceding pieces, in the Ashmolcan

Museum, Oxford.






We must notlinL,êr here to study in detail the forms of

these vases, and I will content myself with referring the reader

to Petrie's remarks, and to the numerous plates on which all the

forms discovered up to the present time are reproduced.^ Wemust turn to the decoration of pottery, and to those examples

Pig. 68.—Scepihe- or Mace-heads from Hierakontoi.is.

'

Petrik, Diospolis parTdy p|i. 18, 19,and

pi. iii. for the diagram showing the

evolution of forms during tiic preliistoric period (Mr. Petrie tells me that he has

reserved his opinion with regard to the evolution of the stone vases of cylindrical




where the vase itself has been given a form either animal or

human.

Most frequently the vase is without decoration; occasionally

there is a simple representation of a cord which encircles the

neck, and care has been taken in working out the detail. In

other instances it is a mere sinuous rounded line, which, in

some cases, is not even continuous.' More rarely the vase is

decorated with regular ribs worked with wonderful perfection^

;

or, again, it is faced with a decoration of shells closely arranged

in rows and overlapping each other.

On one vase there is a network of plaited cords repre-

sented in slight relief, forming a sort of fillet, in which the

vase might have been placed.'^ This is an example of those

skeuomorphic designs to which we have referred earlier in the

chapter. A second is to be found in the fragment of a marble

vase, where the exterior is carved to represent a plaited basket. ^

Finally, a whole series of vases, dating for the most part from

the commencement of the historic period, show us figures in relief

—heads and figures of human beings, animals, etc. We will rapidly

pass them in review.

I know of only one vase which is decorated with human heads.

This is in the Petrie Collection at University College, London,

and from its form it should belong to the time between the com-

mencement of the prehistoric period and the sequence dates 60-70 ;

form, of which the sequence dates were based on Mr. Quibell's observations,

and which Mr. Petrie did not himself check closely) ; Naqada, pi. viii.-xvi. ;

Dtospolis, pi. ix. MacIver & Mace, El Ani7-ah and Abydos, pi. xvi. Petrie,

Abydos, i.pi. xxvii. xlii. xlvii.

; Royal To??ibs, ii. pi. Ixvi.-liii.^'^ ; Abydos, i. pi. ix. x.

QuiBELL, El A'ab, pi. ii. iii. vi. x. xxvii, Ouibell & Green, Hierakonpolis, i.

pi. xxxi.-xxxiv. xxxvi. xxxvii.;

ii. pi. xxx. These indications refer also to the

vases of the first Egyptian dynasties. See also A. H. Sayce, Ihc Sto?ie Vases

of Ancient Egypt, in The Connoisseur, a Magazine for Collccio7-s, iv. 1902,

pp. 159-165, with beautiful photographs of vases in tlie Berens Collection.

'

Examples:Petru:,

iXaqada, pi.

x.;

RoyalTombs, ii.

pi.xlvii./', Iii. liii. liii.^?

and liii./. Quibell, Hicrakoupolis, \. pi. xxxiii.

^ De Morgan, Rechcrchcs, ii. p. 184. Quibell, Hierako?ipolis, i. pi.iix. 7.

Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii. pi. xlix. i)l.v. 12

;

i. pi. xxxviii. 1 and 2.

^Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii. pi. vi. 27, xxix. 21-25, 'i *^' -'^''- 94- De Morgan,

Rcctie7-chcs, ii. fig. 823, p. 245.

Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii. pi. ix. 12.






Fig. 70.—Fragment of Vase—WarriorARMED WITH A HaTCHET.

Berlin Museum.

of which, unfortunately, can

be identified with certainty.

An alabaster vase from the

same locality is incised at

the base with a series of

signs,

'

QuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i. pi.

xvii. and xxiii.^

Id. i. pi. xix. XX. and xxv.

* OunÊLL & Green, Hicrakon-

polis, ii. pi. lix.

•

Petrie, Royal Toitibs, ii. pi. v.

15, vi.rt, 22, 23; i. pi. xxxviii. 4,

and ii. pi. Ii.//, 335.

a figure of a scorpion'

(Fig. 72) ; and, finally, a

very curious group, which

I am tempted to consider

as a pictographic repre-

sentation, without, how-

ever, being able to suggest

any reading of it. It is

more especially the fact

of the bow being depictedthat makes me suspect it

to be something of this

description

(Fig. Jj^).

Other pieces, unfortunately

frao-mentarv, show a bird's

head, and also a strange

object terminated by a star.^

The royal tombs of the

first dynasty at Abydos

have afforded few frag-

ments of this nature. On

some, curious ornaments

are carved in relief, none

Fig. 71.—Fragment of Vase with Boat in

Low Relief.

Berlin Museum.



ORNAMENTAL AND DECORATIVE ART. loi

We must mention that ivory was also used for vases, and,

judging

from a

very

fine

fragmentdiscovered at

Abydos,it

was decorated in the same manner as stone.^

To pass to vases of fantastic shapes, one of the most

curious is that discovered by Petrie at Abydos, whicli represents

Fig. 72.— Stone Vases with Animal Ficures in Relief.

a leather bottle- (Fig. 74). Other s[)ecimeiis from Naqada

represent birds, frogs, and hippopotami (Figs. 75 and jG). At

Hicrakonpolis Mr. Quibcll discovered two vases of steatite and

serpentine in form of birds.'* In the MacGregor Collection at

Tamworth there is a small steatite vase, at the base of which

*Petrie, Royal Totnbs, ii. pi. vi. 22.

Îd. i. pi. xx.xviii. 3, and p. 28.

'QunÊLL, Hicrakanpol/s, i. pi. .xx. 2 and 4, and p.

S;

ii. p. 38.






fragments from the same collection exhibit two hippopotamus

heads, and there is another of which it is difficult to recognize

Fig. 74.—Stone Vase in Form of a Leather Bottle,

Ashmolean Museum,Oxford.

the subject. Is it in reality a representation of an animal

(Fig. 78) ?

Fig. 75.^Stone Vase in Form of a Bird.

Most of the forms met with in stone vases, and also most

of the decorations found on them, wc shall find again in potter}-.






Mats were frequently employed throughout the] whole of the

Ancient Empire, both as carpets and for decorating the walls

of rooms. The representations of tombs of the fifth dynasty

show to what a degree of perfection they had attained at this

period.^

In the tombs of the prehistoric cemetery of El Amrah were

found baskets of the usual spherical form containing malachite.^

The patterns on several specimens recall the baskets made at

Fig. 78.—

Vase, and Fragments of Vases, in Form of Animals.

the present day in the Soudan. The same comparison was made

by M. Amelineau on discovering in one of the chambers of the

tomb of King Khasakhmui a large quantity of objects in basket

work : ... I found there, he says, fairly long pieces of

wood covered with matting. These I met with again through-

out the chamber. I promptly recognized that these pieces of

wood with matting round them were remains of broken chairs,

for one of the ends was not covered with matting. These

chairs were at least o '40 high and about o '6o broad, which

gives the well known form of a species of high stool. Uponthese chairs were placed other specimens of basket work, which,

'

Petrie, Egyptian Decorative Art, pp. 44, 45.^

MacIver, a prehistoric cc7nctery at El AtnraJi in Egypt, in Man, 1901,

No. 40, p. 52 ;MacIver & Mace, El Amrah and Alydos, pi.

xi. 2, and p. 42.



io6 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

plaited with a kind of parti-coloured straw, resembled the basket

work still made in the Soudan and sold in the bazaar at Assouan.

When I asked my workmen whether they had anything of the

€

in

MH^

mm

Fig. 79.— Rkd Vases with White Paint, in Imitation of HASKiiT Work.

same kind inside their houses, they replied in the negative, but

told mc' tliat tlie work closely resembled the Margone made by

the Berbers. The word struck me, and I immediately recalled




the word MAPKflNI, which I had met with in the Coptic hTe

of Pakhome. ... 1

Fig. 80.—Black Incised Pottkkv, with Decoratio.n i.n Imit.\tio.n of

Basket Work.

Independently of ceramic art, the indiistr\- of the basket

_r.'

Amelineau, Lcs nonvellcs fouilles d'Abydos, second season, 1896-7.

Co7npte rendu in cxienso, I'aris, 1902, pp. 176, 177; I.es iioiniellcs fouilles

d'Abydos (1896-7), Paris, 1897, p. 40. Sec Petrie, Royal Tombs, i. p. 15.



io8 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

maker, as Pctrie has remarked,' left numerous traces on the

decorative art of the first dynasty.

The imitation of the basket in prehistoric potter)' is especially

noticeable in two classes of pottery. The first of these is what

is called by Petrie cross-lined pottery—a polished red surface

with designs in white, which is only found in the most ancient

tombs (sequence dates 31-34); the other is a black pottery,

with incisions filled with a whitish paste, and probably imported^

(Figs. 79 and 80). Several specimens with imitations of basket

work also belong to the class of decorated pottery.^

Here we must also note that a considerable number of pottery

vases are decorated to imitate hard stone, and are intended as

substitutes for vases made of more valuable materials. Petrie

has remarked that in tombs where fine stone vases arc found,

of pottery vases there arc few or none.^

With the mention of occasional instances of vases modelled

from a gourd, as in the example published by Herr von Bissing,^

we have, I think, observed all the principal cases where designs

which are skeuomorphic or derived from technique are met

with.

We will now consider the decoration of the vases inde-

pendently of the origin of the various designs found on them.

The first class of pottery which should arrest our attention is

that of vases of a brilliant red colour, on which the designs are

paintedin white. As we have

already remarked,these

belongto the earliest period. The striking analogy which exists between

this pottery and that made at the present day b}- the Kabyles

has several times been pointed out.®

^

Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii. pp. 35, 39.^Petrie, Naqada, p. 38 and

|j1.xxviii. 34, 36, 46, xxix. 52-79, xxx.

; Diospolis

parva. p. 14, pi. xiv. 55-70. MacIver & Mace, El Amrah atid Ahydos, pi. xv.

•'

Petrie, Naqada, p. 40, andpi.

xxxiii. 12, 29. Schweinfurth, Orna?nentik

der dltestcn

Cidtiir-Epoclie Acgyplcfts,in the

Verhandltingender h. Gcscllsch.

Jur Anthropologic, Ethnologie, and Urgeschichte, 1897, pp. 397, 398.^

Petrie, Naqada, p. 40, pi. xxxiii. i, xxxv. 62, 63, 65, 67; Diospolis pjrva,

pp. 15and 18.

•'' V.)\ BissiNG, Lcs 07-igincs de I'Plgypte, in VAntliropologie, ix. 1898, p. 254

andpi. iv. fig. i. Petrie, Naqada, pi. xxvi. 40-43, 50-52.

Petrie, Diospolis parva, p. 14 ; Naqada, p. 38. MacIver & V\ ilkin,




We have said that pottery was often decorated \\ith h'nes in

imitation of basket work;

but in addition to these we find

floral designs, representations of animals antl human beings, and

also a series of zigzag lines, the whole in the same style as

the painted patterns on the archaic statuettes which we have

already described.

When floral designs make their appearance it is as simple

Fig. 81.—Vases painted in White with Flokal Designs.

branches much conventionalized, with which one is tempted to

compare the similar decorations of certain Greek prehistoric

vases discovered at Santorin.^ We give reproductions of two

Libyan Notes, frontispiece. John L. Myers, Notes on the History of the Kabylc

Pottery, in tiie Journal of the

AnthropologicalInstitute, xxxii.

January

—Jiuie,

1902, p. 248-262 andpi. XX.

• Von Bissing, Les origines <lc I'Kgyptc, in VAnthropologic, ix. 189S,

pi. iii. I and3. Petrie, Naqada, pi. xxviii. 40-42; pi. xxix. 69, 76, 85^/; the

application of the laws of transformation of natural designs into geoim-trical will

be found in the specimens HgurL-d, pi. xxviii. 40, 42, 46, 48; jil.xxix. 52, 54, 61,

63, 64, etc. MacIver & Mace, El Amrah and Abydos, pi. xv. 10, 20, 21.



I lO PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

vases showing branches which are fairly decorative. Both sides

of the smaller vase arc figured in a position to show distinctly

the floral decorations^ (Fig. 8i).

The other face of the vase in the centre of F ig. 8i, decorated

with human figures, has already been reproduced as an illustration

of the hairdressing of the men (Fig. 13). Two other vases

Fig. 82. —Bowl painted in White with Figures of Hippopotami

AND A Crocodile.

discovered—one at Abydos and the other at Meala—also show

human figures.

Representations of animals arc more numerous. The hippo-

potamus occurs most frequently ; antelopes of various species are

also found, and other animals which cannot always be identified

1

Petrie, Prehistoric Egyptian Pottery, in Man, 1902, No. 83, pi. H, 2.

2 De Morgan, Nechcrches, i.pi. ii. 5 and

j^l. iii. fig. i. Von Bissing, loc. cit.

pp. 246, 247.



ORNAMENTAL AND DECORATIVE ART. 1 1 1

with certainty—

fish, birds, crocodiles, scorpions, etc. It will be

sufficient to describe a few instances of these. A large oval l)o\\i

in the Petric Collection, University College, London, is decorated

in the centre with a crocodile;

at the upper part with three

hippopotami ; below, at the lower part, with lines crossing each

other at right angles, which, according to Petrie, may indicate

the ripples of water^

(Fig. 82). Another vase from the same

collection is decorated with a floral design, a deer, and an

animal that Petrie calls a hedgehog, although I am not absolutely

v.^_•

Fig. 83.—Vases painted in White with Representations of Animals.

convinced of the accuracy of this identification-

(vase in centre

of Fig. 83).

A vase which apparently comes from Gebelein shows some

extremely curious figures. On one side two antelopes, placed

above a series of zigzag lines;on the other side, a strange animal

with a body greatly elongated, and a small head surmounted

by two pf)inted ears. At first one would be disposed to consider

it a giraffe, but the way in which the body is drawn jiiccludcs

'

Petrie, Prehistonc Egyptian Pottery, in Man^ 1902, No. 83 andpi. H, 5.

''

lb. No. 83 and]) . H, 4.'




this hypothesis, A fragment discovered at Naqada (xxix. 98)

shows us in how characteristic a fashion the giraffe was repre-

sented. May not the animal here figured have been the okapi,

recently discovered in the Belgian Congo, and which was certainly

known to the ancient Egyptians, as Professor Wiedemann has

demonstrated ?^

(Fig. 83).

A vase found, according to Herr Von Bissing, at Abydos,

according to M. de Morgan,

at Gebelcin, is equally worthy

of our attention. It is a

most curious specimen of this

class of vase. In the centre

is a scorpion ; surrounding

it are various animals : a

hippopotamus, crocodiles, fish,

birds, tortoise, and other

figures which are unrecog-

nizable. But the most inter-

esting object is the drawing

of a ship, similar to those

we shall soon have to ex-

amine, and which ordinarily

appear upon another class of

pottery^ (Fig- 84).

These examples are sufficient to give an idea of vases

showing animal figures,'' and it only remains for us to mention

two specimens decorated with geometrical designs and with

strange figures of which the explanation has yet to be found.

' Wiedemann, Das Okapi im alien Acgypteti, in Die Ihnschau, vi. 1902, pp.

1002-1005 ;Das (igyptisclie Se(-T/i/rr, in the Orieiitalistischc IJtteratio- Zcitung^

V. igo2, col. 220-223. Hetrie, l')-eliistoric Egyptian Pottery^ in Man, 1902,

No. 83, pi. II, I.

^

De Morgan, Redierches,i.

jil.ii.

5. Von Bissing,loc. cit.

pi.iii. fi<T.

2, andpp. 246, 247.

•

* See also Petrie, Naqada, pi. x.xi.v. 91-97; Diospolis, pi. xiv. 93;^, 96;

Prefiisioric Egyptian Pottery, in Man, 1902, No. 83, j)l. II, 6. MacIver & Mace,

Pll /hfirah and Abydos, pi. .\v. 17, 18 ? (conventionalized animal?).

De Morgan,

Peciie?rJies, i. pi. ii. i; pi. iii. 2, 3. Von Bissing, loc. cit. pi. iii. i and 3;

pi.iv.

5.

Fig, 84.—Vase painted in White with

A Boat and Various Animals.

After rA iilliropologie.




These two vases belong to the Petrie Collection, University

College, London^ (Fig. 85).

Of an entirely different type is the decorated pottery, ^ to

Fig. 85.—Vases painted in White.


which we must now turn our attention. The earliest specimens

'

Petrie, Pre/iisto?ic Egypfiati Pottery, in Man, 1902, No. 83. pi. H, 3, p. 133 :

The upper figures might be adzes or hoes, the lower figures are curiously like

lictors' fasces, but no such forms are known in Egypt; they may, however, be a

form of stone axes set in handles. Certainly neither can be the hieroglyphic

fteter sign, as tiiat had double projections down to dynastic times.''

^HoEKNES, M., Urgcschichtc der bildciidcn Kunst in Europa von d^n

Anfmigen fn's uni ^00 vor C/ir., Vienna, 1898, Naciitrage, 2, Ncolithische

Vasennialerci in Acgypten, pp. 687-689.

8






Fig. 87.—Vases decorated in Lmitation

OF Basket Work.

and Scliwcinfurth.^ Little by little the spirals were developed,

after the recollection of that which they originally represented

was lost, and eventuall\- the decorator was satisfied to trace

two or three enormous spirals on his vase by way of ornamenta-

tion'' (Fig. 86).

This ornamentation has been wrongly interpreted by several

observers, who considered the spirals to be intended as a repre-

sentation of the sea. Unfortunately for this theory, spirals and

representations of ships are never, to the best of my knowledge,

met with on the same piece

of pottery.^

We must call attention to

the representations of vases

of hard stone which are found

in certain tombs of the Old

Empire, representations which

follow the same lines as those

of the primitive decorators.^

Other vases—and this is

merely a repetition of what I have previously stated—are decorated

with lines representing the covering of plaited straw with which

the vase was covered, a covering sometimes loose, at other times

tightly twisted.'^

It is thus that a vase published by De Morgan, discovered

in Upper Egypt, and showing a slightly different style of work,

reproduces most exactly, according to Schweinfurth, those

great baskets for milk that the present inhabitants of Somali-

land weave with much skill out of the roots of leather-like

toughness of the bushy Asparagus retrofiexus ^ (I ig- 87).

'

Petrie, Naqada, pi. xx.w. 67 c?, b, c, and p. 40. Schweinfurth, Ontaffientik

der (tltesten Cultur-Epoche Aegyplcns, in the Verhandlungen dcr b. Gcscllsch.

fur Anthropologie, Ethnologie imd Urgcscliichtc, 1 897, pp. 397, 398.^Petrie, Naqada, pi. x.x.\;iv. 3irt-33-5'; Diospolis, pi. xv. ^c.

*

A propos des bateaux cgypticns, in VAnthropologie, xi. 1900, pp. 115, 347.•

Davies, The Rock Totnhs of Deir cl Gcbrawi, i. pi. xvii. xix. and pp. 22, 23.'•>

Petrie, Naqada^ pi. xxxii. xxxv.; Diospolis, pi.

xv. xvi. MacIver & Mace,

El Amrah atid Abydos^ pi. xiv.

De Morgan, Recherches, i. pi. ix. i. Compare Petrie, Naqada, pi. xxxv.

76. Von Bissing, Lcs origines de VEgypte, in VAnthropologic, ix. 1898,






above the doors of houses as a symbol of vital force and as

a preservative against the evil eye. The funerary character of

this plant should be borne in mind, and we shall have occasion

to refer to it later on^ (Fig. 89).

Other representations appear to be intended to indicate

trees, and are sufficiently like the hieroglyph () to permit this

identification. I suppose it is to these that Petrie alludes when

he speaks of representations of bushes, which, combined with

signs of mountains, should indicate the landscape, in the midst

of which are animals, men, and boats.

r^^

Fig. 89.— Representations of Aloes and Trees.

The animals represented are few in number. One finds

ostriches and various kinds of gazelles and antelopes ;in excep-

tional cases the crocodile and the chameleon appear.^ A very

remarkable vase discovered at Abydos shows the figure of a

kudu and of two long-horned sheep,' and also a representation

'

ScHWEiNFURru, Ontamentik dcr iiltesteii Ctiltur-Epoche Aegyptcns, loc.

cit. p. 392. Petrie, Diospolis, p. 16.

=*

Petrie,Diospolis, p.

16.

3ScHWEiNFURTii, Ofviat/icnti/c, etc., p. 399:

Man erkeiiiit uiiter ihiieii die

Sabel- und Beisa-Antilope {Oryx leucoryx und O/yx Bcisa), ferner Addax-

Antilopen, be/iehuiigsvveise Wasserbocke, vielleicht aiuli Kudus. '

••

TiiiLE.Nius, Das (is^yplisc/ie Haiisschaf in the Rccucil dc iravaux relatifs

d la philologie ct a I'arckcologic cgyplictincs ct assyricnucs, x.\ii. 1900, pp. 199-212.

DiJRST & Claude Gaillai^d, Studicn fiber die Geschichtc dcs iigyptischen

Hausschafcs, ib. xxiv. 1902, |ip. 44-76.



ii8 FRLAirnVE ART IN EGYPT.

Pig. 90.—Decorated Vase with Representations of Animals, and a Tree

WITH Birds perched on it.

Fig. 91.—Various Designs on Decorated Pottery—Boats, Human Beings,

Animals, Trees, Shields (?), etc.

of a tree, figured in a different manner from that we ordinarily

meet with, and on wliich birds arc perched.^ With this wc can

'

Petrie, Abydos, i. pi.1. ami p. 23.








vases show a curious object difficult to identify, considered by

Petrie to be a mast and sail, and which in that case mi^ht

be compared to the hieroglyph )^) .^ Schweinfurth sees in

them shields made of skin, which, by analogy with the similar

weapons of the Dinkas, Baris, and Kaffirs, would be secured by

means of a long pole, and these in Egypt would carr}' the ensign

at the upper end- (Fig. 91).

On the vases are also found a series of signs in the form of

S, N, and Z,^ for which it may perhaps be difficult to account.

When, however, we remember that we have previously remarked

hair-pins decorated with birds which occasionally present forms

Fig. 94.—Vase with Various Representations.

From dc Morgan.

very similar to an S, we may, I think, presume that these signs

are derived from a summarized form of a row of ostriches. I

am much inclined to find a similar abbreviation of forms

upona vase discovered by Petrie at Abadiyeh,^ where there is a

series of the sign O, which I regard as a very summary drawing

of female figures represented with the arms raised above the

head (Fig. 95).

There are other vases the decoration of which can scarcely

be classed with any of those we have passed under review.

Among these arc the vases on which there is a five-pointed

star '; another with human figures drawn reversed and in a very

'

Petrie, Naqada, pi. l.xvi. 6, 9, 10, and p. 49.^.Schweinfurth, Or>iatiicntik\ etc., p. 399.

3Jh. p. 398.

*Petrie, Diospolis, pi. xx. 8.

•'

Ih.pi. XV.



I 22 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

summary fashion^

; and, finally, a small number of vases on which

arc crocodiles—one of which is pierced with harpoons—

scorpions,

and serpents-

(Fig. 97). I include in this series a specimen

in the Berlin Museum, on which are painted serpents, crocodiles,

ostriches, and giraffes (No. 15,129; Fig. 96).

We must now deal with the rare vases decorated with designs

in relief, of which a specimen discovered at Naqada shows the

figure of a lizard and another of a scorpion'

(Fig. 97).

Fig. 95.—Decorated Vase from Abadiyeh.

On a vase in the British Museum (No. 36,328) decorated with

ostriches, triangles, and boats, two of the handles are surmounted

with figures of birds. On the same vase there are two figures

which cannot be identified, symmetrically arranged, in relief.^

Another specimen at University College, London, is decorated in

relief with figures of a crocodile, a crescent, and a harpoon.

In the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, there

1

Peirie, Naqada, pi. xxxv. Jj.

-lb. pi.

xxxv. 78; Diospolts, pi. xvi. 78*5, 78c, J^d.3Petkie, Naqada, pi. xxxvi. 87, and p. 41 .

*

]5UDGE, A Guide to the First afid Second Egyptian Rooms, ir\i\ ed. 1904,

p. 32, No. 164.



ORNAMENTAL AND DECORATIVE ART. 12-

are three red vases, witli the upper edge blackened (black-topped

pottery),which date from the commencement of the historic

period, and possess special interest (Fig. 98). On the first.

found at Naqada (tomb 1,449), i'' seen a head roughly worked

in relief; this is carried on by a line in relief, \\hich descends

perpendicularly, becoming gradually thinner. I believe this re-

FiG. 96.—Vase with Representations of Giraffes, Ostriches, Crocodiles, and Snakes.

Berlin Museum.

presents the body of the man. From each side near the top,

two ascending lines in relief arc detached, which represent the

arms. Near the base, at a certain distance from the central

line, can be ciistinguished, also in relief, two circular knobs,

from which two lines ascend somewhat abiu[Hl\' to the top of

the vase. The man must be clasping the vase, in a position




which is difficult to imagine, and can only be explained by the

inexperience of the primitive artist, who has not omitted to

represent the head full-face (the two photographs in the centre

of Fig. 98 arc two fragments of a similar vase). The special

interest of this curious vase consists in its permitting us to

watch the operation of that law of extreme simplification which

we have recently been considering. This is carried still further

Fig. 97. -Decorated Vases with Designs in Relief and Other Rare

Ornamentations.

on two other vases from Hu (tombs U 179 and 15 101), which,

according to sequence dating, arc more recent than the Naqada

specimen, and show as decoration two ornaments in relief, con-

sisting simply of a circular knob, from which a line rises to

the top of the vase. It is thus an exact copy of the legs of

the figure on the vase first described. I think, as a consequence

of frequent copying, the meaning of the lines was lost, and, more




especially in the Hu specimens, it was not known that they had

any connection with tlie human figure. Thus tlie ornament re-

sembles two serpents facing each other, and I should not be surprised

if the primitive artist had that idea when he made the vase.^

A vase in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, discovered at

Naqada (tom.b 1,871, sequence date 46) introduces us to a very

rare scheme of decoration. The vase itself is red, with the

blackened upper edge. The interior is also blackened, as is usual

Fig.98.

—Black-topped Pottery with Figures in Relief.

with these vases;but there is besides, roughl}' cut in the clay

previous to baking, a number of crude designs, which probably

represent serpents and plants (Fig. 99). It may possibly have

figured as a magic vase(?).

What is certain is that, with the

exception of two small fragments, of identical technique, in the

same museum, there is no piece in existence— at least, to my

knowledge—at all comparable with this.'-^

' The vase to the left is figured, without description in the text, by Pktrik,

Diospolis, pi. xiv. 66.

* See Petrie, Naqada, pi. xxxv. 71. A vase in tlie British JVluseum, decorated

inside with fantastic signs, is apparently only a modern fraud.




A certain number of vases of rough-faced pottery arc decorated

with incised lines, but this mode of ornamentation appears to have

been employed only rarely^

(Fig. lOO, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford).

Such are the various classes of ornamentation with which

archaic Egyptian pottery was decorated. So far as they can

be cursorily summed up, they are all either skeuomorphic, or else

derived directly from some natural object— mountain, plant, animal,

man, etc. It is an excellent proof in support of the theories

/

/

Fig. 99.—Vase of Black-topped Pottery with an Inxised Decoration inside.

propounded at the commencement of this chapter, and on which

it is not necessary to insist further.

We must now rapidly review the pieces of pottery to which

the primitive artist has attempted to give either a human or an

animal form.-

An extremely curious vase, of brilliant black glaze, found in

'

Petrie,Naqada, p. 41,

andpi.

xxxv.74, 76

;xxxvi.

93aand

b\

xxxvii. 41.

DiospoUs, pi. xvi. 74 h and 93 c;xvii. 49. In our figure the upper vase = DiospoUs,

xvi. ']\b ; below, beginning at the left,—

i =^ Naqada, xxxvi. 93;^ (smoke-blackedbrown pottery): 1 ^ Diospolis, xvi. 93 f (llu, U 126); 3 (Hu, B158); 4 =

DiospoUs, xvii. 49 (Hu, U 170).-

I reserve for the chapter on sculpture some vases in stone and claj' repre-

senting human figures where the vase disappears before the sculptured figure.




Dr. Petrie's excavations at Abadiyeh, was discovered in a tomb

of the first half of the pn historic period (sequence dates 33-41).

The primitive artist has endeavoured to give to the vase a female

form, and he has succeeded in making a figure which does not

differ greatly from the clay female statuettes of the same period,

which we will consider later, and of which we have already given

specimens as illustrating clothing and personal adornment. A

mere pinch in the clay serves to indicate the nose, the ears, and

yjj-^rf^

,M

.MttJI-

1-iG. 100.—Rough-faced Pottery with Incised Decorations.

shoulders;

the breasts are summarily formed and pendant, as

they are with negresses. Einally, the vase swells out suddenly

behind, attempting to portray the extraordinary development of

the buttocks (steatopygy), which is also seen on the statuettes^

(Fig. loi).

Another vase of human form must be mentioned which

appears to represent a captive crouching on the ground in a most

uncomfortable attitude. The primitive artist has only attempted

to render the head with fidelity.-

'

Petrie, Diospolis, \)\.v. B 102.

^//'. pi.

vi. B 83.




The same excavations at Hu-Abadi}-eh also effected the dis-

covery of two vases in the form of hippopotami. In one, care

has been taken to render the form of the animal as accurately as

possible ;in the other the design is very summary, and decorated

with two lateral handles- 1

(Vig. 102). The same is the case with

a vase in the form of a hippopotamus,

now in the museum at Cairo, which

was published by Von Bissing some

years ago.^

The special interest of this last

piece lies in the paintings which have

been added by the primitive artist.

Herr von Bissing speaks thus of it :

The hippopotami of the Middle

Empire are decorated, as Maspero

remarks, with reeds, lotus, and butter-

flies, because they live in the midst

of reeds, where butterflies are flitting

round them. In the same way the

artist ccnild decorate the two sides of

the hippopotamus-shaped vase with

the long series of marsh birds, with

their long necks and large feet,

characteristic of the most ancient

Eg\'ptianart, because

they actuallysaw the hippopotamus in nature

surrounded b\' such birds. Another

explanation must be found for the

harpoons, which arc in groups of two

or three upon the handles, under the

Apparently it was desired to show

the hippopotamus hunted and taken by harpoons. ^

These ver)- apt remarks arc interesting, and we shall again

'

Petrie, /I/,pi. vi. K 134, and pi. xiv. 67. On the latter specimen traces of

painting may still be seen, notably harpoons painted under the body of the animal.

^ Fr. W. v. Bissing, Altiigyptische Gcfdsse h?i Museum 211 Gisc, in the

Zcitschrift fur dgyptischc Sfirachc, xxxvi. 1898, pp. 123-125.^ We have already remarked the same detail in a representation of crocodiles.

Fig. ioi. -Hlack Polished Vase

I.N Form of a Woman.

lip,the head, and the tail.



ORXAMl'ATAL AND Dl^COK ATI VIC ART. 129

have occasion to refer to them. Ilcrr von 13i.ssin<; notes at the

same time the frequent occurrence of vases of animal forms in

primitive Egyptian art, as in the art of all primitive people.

Among these vases of ancient Egypt are some shaped as fish,'

and others more numerous in bird form'-^ TFig. 102). Occasionally

the vase represents two birds side by side^ ^Fig- 102). The Petrie

Collection, University College, London, contains a certain number

P'iG. 102.—Clay Vases in Foum of Animals.

of hirrl-shaped vases, one of which is very remarkable as an

altcinpL at representing a vulture'

(Figs. 103 and 104).

'

Pi.iKii;, Nru/ada, \)\. xxvii. 68rt-<r, and p. 37. QuiBELL & Green,

JJlcra/con/jolis,

ii.

pi.

Ixvi. andp. 50.^

Petkie, Nat/ada, pi. xxvii.()i.)a-c.

IJe MfjuGAN, Rcchaxhcs, i. p. 160, fig. 481.

' Pethie, Aac/ada, pi.xxxvi. 90.

' I am inclined to connect this bird (with month on top and spout in front)

with tlie bird vase said to be nsed by tlu; Ansairiyeh in .Syria, called Tnns'Uhe

peacock; I'rom wiiich they nneive sacramental wine in their secret rites.—Note

jjy Professor Petrie.






Here, again, the copy differs widely from the model, and it is

only by the aid of the intermediate forms that we can realize

what it is the primitive artist wished to represent.^

In some tombs small rectangular pottery boxes have been

discovered, which are decorated on the outside in the same

Fig. 104. —Clay Vase in Form of a Vulture.

manner as the vases. One of these boxes from Diospolis shows

a row of triangles in imitation of mountains, and also rows of

parallel lines,which

slopein alternate

directions from onerow

to the next ^

(Fig. 105, D 73).

Another specimen belonging to the British Museum is decorated

'

Petrie, Diospolis, pi. vi. 1^ 131 ;xix. 71.

^lb. pi. xvi. 73.




with boats, ibex, groups of parallel lines, and with S-shaped

signs1

(Fig. 105).

There is a cover of a similar box in the Petrie Collection,

University College, London. Before baking the clay, the primitive

workmen engraved on the cover an ostrich, a scorpion, and two

human figures, one of the most ancient representations of this

class that we know.-

Finally, Mr. Maclver, in the El Amrah excavations, dis-

Fig. 105.— Pottery Boxes with Various Designs.

covered a box of the same kind, on which different scenes

were drawn in charcoal. On one of the sides appears a hippo-

potamus, on the second a boat, beneath which is a crocodile.

The third side is at present inexplicable,'' while with regard to

the fourth, various interpretations are attempted. Mr. Maclver

sees in it a series of six animals with long necks (probably

^

Budge, A History of Egypl, i. p. 98, fig.British Museum, No. 32,630.

^Pethik, Prehistoric Egyptian Figures, in Man, 1902, No. 14, |). 17 and

pi. B, 22.

^ See Petrie, Naqada, \A. liii. i 13. where a pf)ttery marlv is given similar to

the design on this side (Fij^. 105).






They all have designs in imitation of plaited work incised

in the pottery on the flat rims. Two specimens are specially

remarkable. The design represents a serpent, whose head projects

inside the rim so that the creature appears to be hanging over

the fire. The decorator, remarks Professor Petrie, has combined

the agathodemon, the domestic fetish ot prehistoric times, with

the hearth-place^ (Fig. io6).

We have already spoken of fragments of furniture with plaited

work attached, found in the roval tombs. The excavations of

i\I. de Morgan at Naqada, of Messrs. Amelineau and Petrie at

j^.n

A.18. i^S^Z-j^Fig. Io6.—Clay Fikk-places df.corated with Designs in Imitation of

Plaited Work.

Abydos, and of Air. Quibell at Hierakonpolis, have unfortunately

only produced fragments of small importance, which give a very

vague idea of furniture in the primitive age. All that has been

found arc parts of small coffers, or of seats or low beds.

They are, however, sufficient to show that the feet wliich

supported these pieces of furniture were in the form of legs of

bulls, and were treated in a manner which reminds Dr. I'etrie of

Italian cinque cento work, rather than of archaic efforts'- (Fig. 107).

'

Vv.XKW., Excavations at Abydos, i?i Mail, 1902, No. 64, p. 8y and tigs. 6-8.

Abydos, i.|)1.

liii. 13-] 8, and p. 25.^pKTKn., Royal Toml>s, 1.

]). 27.




It is specially interesting^' to observe tlie pronounced taste of

the decorators for inlaying. Small plaques in ivory, wood, and

glazed pottery with incised lines are very numerous.^

Fig. 107.—Ivory Fekt for Furniture, in the Shape of Bulls Legs.

The models which inspired the decorators are borrowed

principally from matting, cords, and feathers. The human figure

' Petrie discovered at Abydos a large number of glazed pottery tiles wliioh

had served as a wall decoration. SeePetrie, Abydos,

ii.

pi.viii. and

p.26.

This entails an entire revision of the opinions given in Borciiardt, Zur

Gcschichte dcr Pyi-aviiden I. Thiir ai/s dcr Stufcnpyramidc hei Sakkara,

Berliner Museum, No. 1185, in the Zeitschrift fur iigyptischc Sprac/ic, x.\.\. 1892,

pp. 83-87 andpi. i. Wieijemanx, review of Ouibell, Hicrako/tpo/is, i.,

in

the Oricntalistiiche Littcraturzeitiing^ iii. 1900, col. 331. Petkie, Royal Tombs,

ii. p. 36.




is also used as a support, and already one finds kneeling captives

supporting seats, as they are found later on during the historic

period^

(Pîg. 14).

Certain ivor}' fragments found at Hierakonpolis arc perhaps

the arms of chairs; they are ornamented with figures of

animals in the same style as those found on the handles of

knives. The most remarkable of these is a fantastic animal

with the ne:ck lengthened out of all proportion. Occasionally a

man, standing, seizes the neck of one of these animals with

both hands, in an attitude which is specially familiar to us in

Mycenaean and Chaldean art (Figs. 108, 109).

Fig. 108.—Fra(;ments of Ivory carved with Various Figures.

The same excavations at Hierakonpolis brought to light i\'ory

cylinders decorated with figures of men and animals, treated in

the same style. Judging by the sceptre discovered at Abydos,^

they might be considered as fragments of a sceptre. One of these

cylinders in particular, which bears the name of King Nar-Mer, is

interesting as a curious example of a pictographic and hieroglyphic

'

OuiBELL, HicrnkofipoUs, ipi.

xi. and p. 7; ii. p. 37.-

lb. i. pi. xii.-xiv. xvi. xvii. xxxii.;

fantastic animal, pi. xvi. 2 and xvii.

Evans, The Mycenccan tree and pillar cult and its Meditcfrancan relations, with

illustrations from recent Cretan finds, London, 1901 (reprinted from the

Journal of Hellenic Studies'), p. 65 ct scq., andfigs. 43-45. We shall later have

occasion to return to this point.'Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii. pi. ix. i.









I40 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

are two classes of pottery oti which they are commonly found—the black-topped and the red polished. On the other pottery

we have studied, the cross-lined and the decorated, they do

not occur.^

If wc follow Petrie in classifying these marks under different

headings, the results we shall gather are as follows^ (Fig- i n)-

The human figure rarely appears.^ In one instance an

animal, which is difficult to identify, is apparently devouring

the head of a man, a group which recalls the mythological

Makes} Eigures of animals occur more frequently, and with

one exception they differ little in style from those painted on

vases, and perhaps resemble most closely those on the cross-

lined pottery. The most usual types are the elephant, hippo-

potamus, various kinds of antelope, and possibly the giraffe.'''

Birds are less frequent, and the species represented are not

easily identifiable;one recognizes, however, the bird with long

feet, and with the neck curved into an S, which frequently

occurs on the decorated pottery. Crocodiles and serpents are

often found.' Floral designs are limited to summary sketches

of the palm-tree and of various kinds of vegetation not easy

to determine.^ Boats, while they are rare, are not entirely

1

Petrie, Naqada, p. 44.

- The marks D 20 are from a slate palette which Petrie has omitted to

describe in Diospolis. The original is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and

is reproduced earlier in the book in dealing with palettes with incised

ornamentation.•'

Petrie, Naqada, pi. li. i, 2, 7.

*

According to Pleyte, Chapitres suppWncntaires d^c IJvre dcs Marts, i. p. 41,

Ce n'est pas qu'apres la xx^ dynastie que le titre on nom de Mahes davient un

nom de dieu. I believe the representations of this god to be rare. I will quote

Naos D 29 at the Louvre (PiERRET, Pantheon egypticn^ fig.on p. 79), a whip

handle at the Leyden Museum, i. ] ] (Leemans, Mo7iunients, ii. pi. Ixxxiv.),

and a magical boomerang at University College, London, of the twelfth

dynasty.'Petrie, Naqada, pi.

li. 7-27 ; Diospolis, pi.xx 13-29. MacIver & Mace,

El Amrah andAhydos, pi.

xvii.

19-24. Newberry,Extracts

from 7?tyNotebooks,

V. No. 37, in the /Proceedings of the Society of Biblical A?x/iceology, xxiv. 1902,

p. 251 and pi. i.5.

^Petrie, Naqada, pi li. 28-32 ; Diospolis, pi. xx. 30-35, xxi, 51.

'Petrie, Naqada, pi. li. 33-38; Diospolis, pi. xxi. 36-43.

8Petrie, Naqada, pi. lii. 52-69 ; Diospolis, pi. xxi. 53-72. MacIver & Mace,

El Amrah and Abydos, pi.xvii. 25-29.




absent, but they only recall very vaguely those that we know

on the decorated pottcr\-.^

D44.

Fig. III.—Pottery Marks.

Men, elephants, hippopotami, hons, antelopes, giraffes, birds, plants, reptiles,

boats, etc.

1 hcsc are almost the only representations which it is possible

'

Petkie, i\a(/ada, pi. Hi. 70, 71 ; Diospolis, \A. xxi. 52.




to recognize at a first glance. Before continuing our examina-

tion of these marks, we should therefore ask ourselves a

question of some importance.

Among those figures which are easy of identification, do

we meet with signs that we could designate as hieroglyphs ?

In other words, ought we to consider hieroglyphic writing as

an importation brought by conquerors from Asia, from Upper

Nubia, or from some other region ;or is it possible to discover

anything on these objects belonging to the primitive Egyptians

that suggests that they employed a method of writing of which

the later hieroglyphs are but a development ?

We must recall some remarks of Von Bissing on the subject

of the African origin of hieroglyphs.

Hieroglyphic writing, he says, in my opinion presents a

character which is entirely Egyptian. A fairly large number

of extremely ancient signs are drawn from plants and animals.

The papyrus is assuredly an Egyptian plant. Now a group

\\hich occursfrequently

with the

meaningof verdant

repre-sents the stem and flower of this plant. It is also the standard

of Lower Egypt and the sign for the north. As to the lotus,

it occurs so often that the sign for thousand in Egyptian is

actually the stem of the NyinpJicca ceridea, with a leaf floating

on the water. The flowers of NympJuva on a basin is the

earliest form of the letter S where the papyrus enters later.

I do not know that the Nymphcea cerulca and the Nynipluva

lotus are natives of Asia, and it is precisely these plants, as

proved by Messrs. Borchardt and Griffith, which one meets with

from the earliest times in Egypt, while the Nymphcea nciuii/bo,

which probably comes from Asia, is not found except on the

monuments of the late period. With regard to animals, the result is the same. Above all,

the crccodile and the hippopotamus, which one could not

separate from the archaic civilization and from the earliest

mythological conceptions of the Egyptians, do not exist in

Asia (the Indian species differ considerably from the African

specimens figured on the monuments). The eagle, which is in

reality a black vulture, the bald-headed vulture (sacred bird




of the goddess Mut), the sparrow-hawk fwhich should be

termed a falcon), the owl, and, above all, the ibis, offer types which

are absolutely African, or, at least, are in no way characteristic

of Asia.

It is the same with the different animals, such as the Jackal,

symbol of various gods of the dead (I am told that it is more

nearly a fox), the gazelles (among others the On'.r leîkoryx,

which is unknown in Asia), even the elephant, which presents

the African type, the hyaena, and many others. If we come to

snakes, insects, and fish

—among

all

these we find species knownas existing in Egypt at that period : the iirceits, scarab, scorpion,

and various fish that one sees in the hieroglyphs and meets with

again in the mural decorations of the Ancient Empire. Natur-

ally the Egyptians must have long been acquainted with a large

number of the animals here mentioned before they learnt to

attribute to them the conventional meaning they received. How

many times did they see the hippopotamus thrust his head out

of the water to breathe in air, before finding in the head of the

animal appearing above the water a graphic expression for

that which we call a iniimtel For a long time the ancient

Egyptian must have watched the beetle making his mud balls,

before seeing in him the symbol of perpetual creation, the

formation of the egg. If it were possible that the hippopotamus,

strictly speaking, had struck the new arrivals at their first entry

into

Egypt,and had

suggestedto them the

very strangeidea

of symbolizing an instant, it cannot at any rate have been the

case with the beetle. In any case, the Egyptians before entering

Egypt could have had no word for ait i>istaut or to become,

as the very words which designate these ideas arc native to

Egypt.1

Basing his argument partly on these considerations and

partly on the pottery marks, and the graffiti of which we shall

speak presently, M. Zaborowski came to the conclusion that

•

F. VON BissiNG, I.es origines dc I'/igypte, in V A7ithropologii\ ix. 1898,

pp. 409-411. Ill these last lines there appears to me to be a confusion, which I

am convinced the author would not make at the present time. See Ek.ma.x,

Aegyptischc Gfammati/c, 2nd ed. Berlin, 1902, § 36, p. 17.



144 PRLAIITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

the origin of hieroglyphic writing should in reality be sought

for in the graffiti.^

At first sight these conclusions are extremely attractive,

and it seems rational to evolve the classical hieroglyphs from

a system of elementary pictography. This evolution, according

to Vôn Bissing, being effected in Egypt, the deductions of

M. Zaborowski appear to be absolutely correct. On looking

more closely into the question, however, it does not appear to

me to be a certainty.

The inscriptions of the first d}'nasty have not the appearance

of hieroglyphs in course of formation. The concordance of the

sequence dating with the dates of the kings of the Ancient

Empire, as Dr. Petrie .has established them from the results

of his excavations in the temenus of Osiris at Abydos, leaves

little hope at present of discovering any hieroglyphs that

could form a link between the pottery marks, the graffiti, and

the classical hieroglyphs. We may ask, however, whether there

is not a chance that excavations may some day lead to the

discovery of some relics of those worshippers of Horus, whose

real significance Professor Sethe has recently been able to solve.^

The pottery marks we have already mentioned include few

hieroglyphs. There is a sign representing the plant of the

south,'' and another which is nothing else than the crown of

Lower Egypt,* the crown of the goddess Neith, which, being of

Libyan origin, as we have mentioned previously, might very

well have been introduced as a pictographic sign into a system

of writing which was already constituted.

I will also refer to the sign engraved on a slate palette, the

sign of the god Min, which occurs rather frequently among these

pottery marks.^ This could only have become a hieroglyphic

'

Zaborowski, Origiues africaincs dc la civilisaiioti dc Vancicnne J^gypte, in

the Revue scieniifique, 4th series, xi., March iltli, 1899, pp. 293, 394.^

Sethe, Beitriige zur dltesten Geschichte Aegyptens {UntersucJiungen siir

Geschichte und Altcr//iict?iskiinde Aegyptens, herausgegeben von Kurt Setlie, iii.i),

pp. 3-21 : die '* Hon/sdie»cr.^Petrie, A'aqada, pi. hi. 74.

'

I/kpi. iii. 75.

•^

Jb. pi. liii, 1 17-122 ; Diosfiolis, pi. x.xi. 67, 69, 73-79.






In the course of the excavations at Naqada Professor Petrie

found a certain number of marks of geometrical forms, and

he states that

few of them are striking, or Hke any definite

alphabetical series;nor are any to be found in sequence to suggest

that constant ideas were attached to them. ^

But the excavations in the royal tombs of Abydos have

supplied new materials for the study of this question, and the

researches of Mr. Evans among the Cretan pictographs and

the linear systems of the Creto-Aegean world prepared the way

for the conclusions that Petrie has drawn from them.

The examination of this question would lead us far from

our subject, and I must content myself with a few summary

indications, and with referring the reader to works where he

will find more complete information.-

Dr. Petrie noted on the pottery of the royal tombs of the

first dynasty a series of marks which showed themselves identical

with the alphabetiform marks of the prehistoric vases. At the

same time he confirmed what Mr. Evans had already observed

—that is to say, the identity of the Creto-Aegean linear alphabets

with the pottery marks discovered in Egypt at Kahun and

Gurob, on vases of the twelfth and eighteenth Egyptian dynasties.

This time a step in advance was taken in showing that the

tabulated marks of the twelfth and eighteenth dynasties corre-

spond exactly with the marks of the royal tombs of the first

dynasty and of the prehistoric pottery. Finally, the primitive

alphabets of Karia and Spain present a series of identical signs.

If the table drawn up by Petrie^ is examined, it is seen that

^

Petrie, Naqada, i. p. 44, pi. liii. et scq. ; Diospolis, pi. xxi.-xxiii. See also

some marks in MacIver & Mace, El Amrali and Abydos, pi. xvii.

-

Petrie, Royal Tombs, i. pp. 31, 32. Evans, Prhnitive Pidograplis ami a

Pre-Phcetiician Script f?-om Crete, in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, xiv. 1894,

p. 270 et seq., and London, Ouaritch, 1895 ;Further Discoveries of Cretan and

Aegeati Script, with Libyan and Proto-Egyptian Comparisons, ib. xvii. 1897,

PP- 327-395, and London, Ouaritch, 1898. Sergi, The Mediterranean Race: A

Study of the Origin ofEuropean People, London, 1901, pp. 296-305, and figs. 79-93.•' The sources whence this table was derived are as follows, from information

kindly supplied by Dr. Petrie. Petrie, Naqada ; Royal Tombs, i.; Kahun,

Gurob and Ilawara, London, 1890. Sayce, The Karian Language and

Inscriptions, in the Transactiois of the Society of Biblical Archeology, ix. 1887,

pp. II 2- 154. Boudard, p. a., Essai sur la mcmismatique iberiennc, Paris, 1859.






Here is Dr. Petrie's reply :

Certainly the so-called Phcenician

letters were familiar long before the rise of Phoenician influence.

What is really due to the Phoenicians seems to have been the

selection of a short series (only half the amount of the surviving

alphabets) for numerical purposes, as A =i, E = 5, I = 10,

N =50, P = 100, ^ = 500, etc. This usage would soon render

these signs as invariable in order as our own numbers, and force

the use of them on all countries with which the Phoenicians

traded. Hence before long these signs drove out of use all others,

except in the less changed civilizations of Asia Minor and Spain.^

M, Weill, in a recent article in the Revue ar'cJieologiqiie^ contested

these results, but I must confess that his arguments have in no

way convinced me. I do not think it possible for any one to

say, as the result of his demonstration, as he himself says, that

of Dr. Petrie's table and deductions not one word nor one

fact is left standing. It seems to me that he has lost sight of

one point of primary importance ;it is the presence of

alphabeti-

form

signs on prehistoric pottery from the commencement of

the primitive period. If we must admit, as he wishes, that the

linear signs are merely a degradation of the hieroglyph signs,

it would also be necessary to believe that, previous to the earliest

known remains, a hieroglyphic system was in existence which

had been long enough in use for the signs to develop a linear

form. Of these only a very small number had been retained

(thirty-three in Petrie's table), which must have been propagated

in the Mediterranean world in so strange a manner as to render

it possible, after several thousands of years, to compare them

with the identical signs (to the number of thirty) discovered on

the primitive remains in Spain. Up to the present time we

have failed to recover those hieroglyphs which have left only

very doubtful traces on prehistoric remains, and the criticisms

of M. Weill, who, I think, has not faced that side of the

question,do not seem to me in

any wayto have touched Petrie's

tables and deductions.

'

Petrie, Royal Tombs, i. p. 32.^Weill, R., La question de Vccrittire lineaire dans la Mcditerrance primitive,

in the Rcviic archeologique, 1903, i. pp. 213-232.




Now, how can we explain the fact that these alphabet form

signs

are found in

Egyptat the

prehistoric age,

and under the

first, the twelfth, and the eighteenth dynasties ? I think there

are two hypotheses which should be considered. At these

different periods Egypt may have been in touch with the

country where this system originated, or else the Egyptians

from primitive times may have preserved the knowledge of this

system in addition to their hieroglyphic writing.

We have already remarked on the analogies with the Libyans

presented by the primitive Egyptians. We have mentioned the

resemblances of their primitive alphabetical system with the

Libyan alphabets, and also the relations between the Libyan and

the Creto-Aegean peoples have several times been established.

I do not think it is too bold to definitely attribute the

appearance of these marks at different periods of Egyptian

history to contact with the Aegean people, either directly or

through the intermediary of the Libyans. These relations are

indicated at the same time by the appearance of vases of a

special type ;this is the black incised pottery, with a whitish

paste in the incisions; specimens of this pottery liave been

found in Spain and Bosnia, at Hissarlik, in Crete (Knossos),

and in Sardinia, and when found in Egypt it is evidently an

importation.^ I believe also that to these relationships must be

attributed the appearance in Egypt during the twelfth and

thirteenth dynasties of small nude figures of women, which had

disappeared from Egyptian art since primitive times. Again,

one finds them reappearing in the eighteenth dynasty, and the

phenomenon is interesting to note. The proof of the relations

of Egypt with the Libyo-Aegean people during the first dynasty

is easily found in the vases discovered by Dr. Petrie at Abydos, in

the royal tombs, and in the temple of Osiris; during the twelfth

dynasty, in the fact that at Knossos there are Egyptian remains of

that period, and perhaps also in the appearance of pan grdves.

-

' MacIver & Mace, El Anirah and Abydos, p. 43. I^ktkie, Methods and

Aims in Arc/urology, London, 1904, fig. 61, pp. 160-162.

^ The description of these will be found in Petrie, Diospolis, pp. 45-49 ithe

term employed by Petrie, pan graves, is merely an abbreviation of pan-shaped

graves.



ISO PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

The presence of these graves in the vicinity of Abydos, at

the end of the route from the oases, indicates the direction

which must have been taken after the twelfth dynasty by these

people, whose Libyan character is so evident.^ Foreign relations,

;Trw:TlCDrrrcrr.crrnr,nnr-r|i n IvJ'1Vi»

tLCLIrrncprrnrrrrnhDlDlJIiy'^ I

fA.561.

.M.StO.

rkSvs^ (1

m;

.a.Ti.e .P>T.I.9.

1/

^- oa.R.T. I.IOJI.

, R, T.I -101.

.J^.W.

-P. T.1L.35.

I'lG. 114.— Impressions taken from Cylinders.

especially with the Mycenaean civilization, were so numerous

during the eighteenth dynasty, that it is useless to insist on

this point ;we have already pointed out the Libyan influence

under Amcnophis IV.

1 MacIver & Mace, loc. cit. pp. 67, 6S.











SCULPTURE AND PAINTING. 155

at the earliest period of Egyptian history ; they are found in

various materials—clay, stone, ivory, glazed

pottery, and lead. I will remind the

reader of the figures of men carved on the

combs, and also of the pendants of human

form of which illustrations have been

given earlier in the book, and of which

there is no need to speak further.

The statuettes of men are somewhat

rare : not one specimen was found by

Petrie in the vast necropolis of Naqada.

At Diospolis a few rude examples were

found, made apparently at ^6 and 33-55

(sequence dates). Several figures are

represented standing ;another appears to

be seated. On most of them are to be

seen distinct indications of the kaimata,

or sheath ; the beard is carefully marked.^

In general, it may be said that the

rendering of these figures is not more perfect than that of the

human representations we examined in

the chapter relating to decorative art

(Fig. 119).

Another statuette, in a yellowish

pottery, discovered in the necropolis of

Gebel el Tarif, is more interesting. It

shows a bearded personage kneeling, the

arms hanging down the body. Here

already the face is better formed, and

the nose and ears are well indicated.*^

Fig. 117.—Worked Flint in

Form of a Wild Goat.

Berlin Museum. -

Fig. 118.—Worked Flint

IN Form of a Wild

Barbary Sheep.

Berlin Museum.^

1Petrie, Diospolis, pi. v. U96; vi. B 1

19,and p. 36. The two statuettes U96

are of clay, painted red. Two similar pieces were discovered by Mr. Garstang, at

Alawanyeh : see Garstang, Mahdsna and Bet Klialldf, London, 1903, pi.iii.

See also two specimens in ivory in the MacGregor Collection. Naville, Figurines

egyptieimes de Vepoqiic archaique, ii.,in the Rccueil de travaiix relatifs

a hi

philologie, ct a Varchcologie cgypUmnes et assyrienncs, xxii. 1900, pi.v.

- After Die Unisdiait, lac. cit.

3lb.

* De Morgan, Rcchcrches sur les origines, i. p. 151, hg. 373 •'• ^8- '- P- 54-




Mr. Evans has drawn an extremely able comparison between

this figure and a marble idol found at Amorgos. Though

Fig. 119.—Figures of Men of the Primitive Period.

differing, he says, from the primitive marble 'idols' of the

Aegean Islands in its bent knees and arms held close to

the side, yet it shows a remarkable resemblance to them in

its general shape ;while in its recurved flat-topped head it




ig- 119.reproduces one of their most characteristic features ^

(Fi^

M. R III).

In the excavations at El Amrah Mr. Maclver discovered

several figures of men of the same

type as the specimens found at

Diospolis, and always characterized

by the karnata or sheath- (Fig. 1 19).

There are several other statuettes

in the Berlin Museum/ and one

withoutlegs,

its

historyunkrtow^n,

in the Petrie Collection, University

College, London. Figures of men

occur more frequently in the mass

of ivories discovered at Hierakon-

polis, and at the same time we note

a real advance on the preceding

pieces. These ivories are unfor-

tunately in rather bad condition,

and a serious effort is necessary in

order to realize what they were

before their mutilation. We can

see, however, that they were standing

figures, clothed in a loin-cloth held

in its place by a girdle, to which

was attached the karnata. The

beard, when represented, is enclosed

in the bag already described. In

short, it appears that the most

frequent type was that of which

Mr. MacGregor's ivory figure supplies the best specimen' (Figs.

20, 1 19, 120, and 121).

'

Evans, Further Discoveries of Cretan and Aegean Script, in the Journal

of Hellenic Studies, xvii. 1897, p. 380, andtig. 33, p. 381.

* MacIver & Mace, El Afurah and Abydos, pi. ix. 1 1, xii. 7, pi'. 4'. \--

'ScHAEKER, Nctcc Altertiwicr der new race aus Negadali in the Zcitschrift

fiir dgyptisclie Sprache, xxxiv. 1896, pp. 160, 161, figs. 8, 11.

•

QuiBELL, Hie?-akotipolis, i.pi. vii. viii. x. and pp. 6, 7. Naville, Figurines

egyptiennes de Vcpoque archai'r/ue, ii., in the Neci/eil dc travaiix rclatifs a la

Fic. i.:u. Ivory Figures of MexDISCOVERED AT HiERAKONPOLIS.

The heads probably do not belong to

the bodies.—Ashmolcan Museum,

Oxford.




From an examination of the physiological type of all these

statuettes, Dr. Petrie considers that they represent individuals

of the primitive race, anterior to the Egytians— those Libyans

whom we have already met with several times. There is an

ivory head (Fig. 121) which is especially characteristic.^

Fig. 121.—Ivory Heads discovered at Hierakonpolis.

On another head of a man we see a kind of high-pointed

philologie et a Varcheologie egyptiennes et assyriennes, xxii. igoo, p .v.—There are

two small ivory figures in the MacGregor Collection similar to the specimensfound at Hierakonpolis.

'

QuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i. pi.v. vi. 4, 5, p. 6. Schweinfurth, Die

tieiiesten Griibcrfundc in Obcnigyptett uiid die Stellung der noch lebenden

Wilsten-StaDimcti zii de?- altagyptischcn Bcvolkerung, in the Verhandlungcn dcr

berl. anthropo/ogischcn Gcsellsdiaft, 1898, pp. 180-186. Petrie, TJlc Races of

Early Egypt, in i\\e Journal of lite Anthropological Institute, xxxi. 1901, p. 250,

pi. xviii. 6.





i6o PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

shows a power of dealing with individuality which stands

apart from all the later work in its unshrinking figuring of age

and weakness with a subtle character. It belongs to the same

school of art as the figures . . . and these reveal a style which

has hitherto been quite unsuspected, as preceding the more

formal style of the Old Kingdom ^

(p-ig. 122).

The position of the ears should be noticed; they are placed

perpendicularly on the head, and seem to be of abnormal

size. It may be questioned whether this is not a trace of a

custom of intentional malformation of the ears, the more so that

the same anomaly, with even greater exaggeration, is seen on

other ivory heads from Hierakonpolis and Abydos ' (Fig. 132,

No. 14)..

Female statuettes are far more numerous, and enable us to

follow closely the evolution of the type. It is necessary, however,

to begin by setting completely on one side certain figures of

extraordinary appearance, of which we have already given

illustrations of two specimens when treating of painting the

body (Fig. 6).

These figures are characterized by an exaggerated develop-

ment of fat, principally in the lower limbs, and especially the

thighs (steatopygy). It is known that this deformity is frequently

found among the Hottentots, and it has been compared with

a representation in the temple of Dcir el Bahari of an African

'

Petrie, Abydos, ii. p. 24, pi. ii. 3,and xiii.

'^

lb. ii. pi. iii. 17-19, and p. 24. A Mexican statue in the Ethnographical

Museum, Berlin, shows a similar deformity. See Woerman, Gcschichte

der Kunst allcr Zeite7i iind Volker, i. Leipzic, 1900, fig. p. 88. Pliny, Natural

History^ iv. 27, 5:

The island of the Fanesii, in which the inhabitants,

who are naked, completely cover themselves with their ears, which are ol

excessive size.'' Male, E., Lart reUgeux du xiii'. siecle en France, Paris, 1902,

p. 77 (the Portal of V6zelay) :

Men with ears as large as winnowing fans.

Delakosse, M., Snr des traces probables dc civilisation cgyptientic et d'lwvnnes

de race blaitclie a la cote d'ivoire, in VAntliropologic, xi. 19CO, jx 679, Ces

fils du Ciel avaient la peau blanclie ; leurs oreilles etaient si grandes qu'ils

s'en cachaient leur visage a la vue d'un homme de la terre. P. 684, Tous

ceux (jui en . ont vu ou en ont entendu parler disent que, pour ne pas etre

reconnus, ils prenaient Icurs oreilles avec les mains et les ramenaient sur

leur visage.—Information contributed by MM. Bayet, Macoir, M. Hebert,

and F. de Zeltner.



sculpturp: and painting. i6i

^1

I

queen, the queen of Punt.' These curious statuettes arc in two

positions, cither standini^ or seated.- The specimens in the

Ashmolean Museum, Ox-

ford, reproduced here, are

of a greyish clay, covered

with a brilliant red glaze,

and still show traces of

black paint (Figs. 123,

124, 125). The Berlin

Museum possesses a seated

figure, the only complete

one I know of (Fig. 125).

We here encounter an

important problem con-

cerning the history of the

migrations of primitive

peoples. Should these

Egyptian statuettes be

taken as a proof of the

presence of a Hottentot

race in prehistoric Egypt ?

Dr. Fouquet writes,

after the examination of

the bones discovered in

the tombs :

At South

Naqada, the cephalic index

—for the men, 72, yî I

for the women, y^, 13—

induces a comparison with

those of the Hottentots,

the Bushmen (72, 42) the

Kaffirs (72, 54). The discovery made b}- Flinders Petrie at

Naqada itself of steatopygous statuettes suggested to him the

123.— Steatopygous Clay TiciURKS.

Ashmolean Museum.

•

Petrie, Naqada, y,. 34. M.ariette, Voyage dans Ic Haute Agypte, Paris

and Cairo, 1878, ii.pi. 62, j)]). 72, 73. See, however, DenmvER, /.es races et

les peuples de la ictre, jip.i 10, 111.

-

Petkie, i\a(/aif<i, \)\.vi 1-4, p 34

I I



l62 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

same idea, which he does not appear to have adopted on a

final analysis. It is known, however, that this race penetrated

into France,and it is

possiblethat

theyreturned

by wayof

Egypt.^

This impression appears at the first glance to be extraordinary ;

but we hasten to add that it is identical with that entertained

by all those who have examined these objects. M. de Villenoisy

writes^

:

The excavations at Brassempuy have effected the dis-

covery of a series of ivory statuettes representing women with

whose head-dress there is nothing analogous except in Egypt,

Fig. 124.—Steatopygous Clay Figures.

Ashmolean Museum.

and whose physiological characteristics are found only in Africa,

among the most ancient inhabitants of the soil : the duellers in

the land of Punt (now Somaliland) in the time of the Egyptian

Queen Hatasu (eighteenth dynasty), Abyssinians and Bolofs (who

must at one time have been neighbours of Egypt), Bushmen

and Hottentots. The insistence with which M. Piette pointed

out, on the Pyrenean palaeolithic figures, peculiarities which

'

FouQUET, Redierches sitr les cranes de I'epoque de la picrrc taillec en Kgypte,

in De Morgan, Kcchcrchcs sur les orighies^ ii. p. 378.^ De Villenoisy, Lhiatus prehisiorique et les decoiivertcs dc M. Ed. Piette,

in tlie Bulletin de la Societc de spelcologie, April to June and July to September,

1896, pp. 97, 98.




among women of contemporary races are found to be exclusively

African, did not at first succeed in fixing attention;

it was

considered that they were merely the result of accidental circum-

stances, or lack of skill on the part of the sculptor. A great

step in advance was taken when, at the meeting of the Acadeniie

dcs Inscriptions, November 23rd, 1894, M- Maspero recognized

the great similarity that exists between the legless figures of

Bassempuy and those deposited in the tombs of Egypt. He

believes them to be inspired by the same religious conception.

Fig. 125.—Steatopygous Figure in Clay (complete).

Berlin Museum.

M. Boule, in FAntJiropologie} expresses himself in the same

way with regard to the Hierakonpolis figures :

The comparison

may have very slender foundation, yet I cannot resist finding

a certain resemblance between some of these reproductions and

those on the sculptures found by M. Piette at Mas d'Azil, andI received the same impression on examining the steatopygous

female figures Tound by Professor Flinders Petric and Mr. Quibell

at Naqada and Ballas.

• VAnthropologic, xi. 1900, p. 759.




Notwithstanding Boule's doubts, it seems probable that this

resemblance is not without foundation. We find analogous

figures in the P^rcnch caves/ in Malta,-' in the regions of Thrace

and Illyria, at Butmir, Cucuteni, Sereth, in Poland/ in Greece/

and the Aegean Islands, notably Crete. ''

But by the side of these steatopygous figures,

in Egypt as also in France, statuettes of another

type are found, characteristic of a race of less

bulky proportions.'' The best specimen that

can bequoted

is thefigure

decorated with

paintings already reproduced (Fig. 5).There

are statuettes of this type in clay, ivory, and

lead, where the legs are summarily indicated.

Frequently the arms are merely represented by

means of a nip in the clay, causing the shoulder

to project. Occasionally the breasts are clearly

indicated;

at other times there is not a trace

of them. We must notice a curious specimen,

'

Petrie, Naqada, p. 34, where he quotes I'Anthropo-

logic, vi. 1895, 129-151. HoERNES, Ufgcsc/iic/i/e dcr bildett-

deii Kunst, pi. ii. figs. 9-13. Reinach, S., Statuette defemmeluic decoitverte dans tine des grottes de Menton, in l'Anthro-

pologic, ix. i8g8, pp. 26-31, pi. i. ii.

-

Mayk, Die vorgeschichtlichen Denkiniilcr von Malta,

in tlie Abhandlungcn der k. baycr. Akadonie dcr ll'iss.,

i. CI., xxi. Bd., iii. Abth. Mi'mchen, 1901, pp. 699-703, and

pi. X. 2, xi. I and 2. Review by Arthur Evans, in Man,1902, No. 32, pp. 41-44, fig. 3, p. 43, reproduces fig.

2 of pi.

xi. of Mayr more clearly ;tatoo-marks are distinguishable.

•' HoERNES, Urgeschichtc dcr bildcndc7i Ki/nst,\). 192 and

pi. iii. The statuette of Cucuteni (Rounuuiia) and that of

Iceland are reproduced in Reinach, S., I.a sculpture en

Europe avant les injiriences greco-romaines, fig. 94 and 95

(separate reprint, p. 39). Compare especially tlic figure from Poland with those

of our Fig. 1 23.

^ Perrot & Chipiez, Histoii'c de Part dans rantiquitc, vi., Jm Grece

piimitive,I'art

mycenien, fig. 325, p. 736,and

figs. 333and

334, p. 741.^

Evans, Arthur, The Neolithic Settlcjnent at Knossos and its Place in the

History of Early Aegca?t Culture, in Man, 1901, No. 146, pp. 184-186, andfig.

They appear again in Egypt in the eighteentli dynasty. See MacIver & Mace,

El Atnrah and Ahydos, pi. iv. D 8. Garstang, EJ Arabnh, London, 1901,

pi. xix. E 178.

^

Petrie, Naqada, p. 34.

Fig, 126.—ClayFemale Figure.

University Col'ege,

London.




of unknown provenance, at University College, London, where

the hands are clasped as though to hide the lower part

of the body (Fig. 126). There is also a

specimen which is almost perfect at the Berlin

Museum in vegetable paste, No. 14167 (Pig.

127).

Another very early example (sequence date

38) in vegetable paste moulded on a reed core is

painted red and black. The lower part of the

face appearsto be covered with a veil. Round

the thighs there is a belt curved at the lower

edge at both ends so as to form a point between

the legs when joined^ (Fig- 128, No. 11). There

is a similar specimen in the Petrie Collection,

University College, London, as well as another

in lead (Fig. 128). Tlie excavations at Diospolis

have furnished other examples, notably, from

tomb B loi (sequence date 34), a small figure

with the arms carefully carved- (Fig. 128,

D. B loi).

In the same necropolis, in tomb B 83

(sequence date 33-48), excavations have brought

to light a female statuette, already worked

more in detail, where the legs and also the

hair arc at least indicated (Pig. 128, D. B 83).fig. i27.-Female

The arms are still represented in the same Figure in Veget-

rudimcntary fashion as in the figures of the^^^^

Berlin Museum.

Aegean Islands. *

In the series of ivory female statuettes the progress is enor-

mous. Unfortunately there has been no specimen found in the

course of scientific excavation to furnish a relative date for these

objects. The examples we can (ûote present a great variety in

Petrie, Naqada, pi. lix. 11; Diospolis, p. 26. Now at the Ash-

moleaii Museum, Oxford. Identical fragments \\\\Diospolis, \A. v. B mi, and

P- 33-'

Petrie, Diospolis, yX. v. p. 33.^

lb.pi. vi. B 83, p. 32.



1 66 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT

Fig..128.—Female Figures in Pottery, Ivory, Lead, and Vegetable Paste.




the position of the arms. Sometimes they hang down the

body ;sometimes only the right arm is pendant, while the

left appears to support the breasts. One figure has the arms

folded on the breast;

others have one hand placed on the

stomach, while the second hides the lower part of the body.

Most have the head shaved; some, on the contrar}', wear the

hair long, with two locks hanging down in front over the

Fig. 129.—Female Figures in Ivory.


shoulders, framing the face. On some specimens the hair

on the lower part of the body is crudely rendered by a

series of holes, arranged fan-shape. The e\-es are sometimes

carved, sometimes inlaid with round bone beads ^

(I'igs. 128

and 129).

Some of these later figures have a tenon at the base, by

means of which they were fastened to stands, similar to

'British Museum, 32,125, 32,139-42. Budge, A History of E<rypt, i. p. 52.

University College, London : see our Fig. 128 MacGregor Collection : Navilll ,

Fi>rurhirs c_<(v/)ficiincs de Icpoquc arc/iai'f/itc, ii., in tlie Rccucil dc travai<xrclatifs

(} la f'hilolo'îe ct a I ardicoloiîe cgyptifiiftcs ct assyricnnes, xxii. 1900, pi.iv. of

V liicli our Fig. 129 is a reproduction.



1 68 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

those of some of tlic Hierakonpolis ivories which wc are about

to consider.

The British Museum (No. 32,143) possesses a statuette of a

woman standing, wrapped in a large cloak, the upper edge of

which is fringed, leaving the left breast uncovered;

on her

shoulder she carries a child, whose body is hidden beneath the

folds of the cloak ^

(Fig- 130).

The type of the woman

carrying her child also occurs

in an ivory figure in the Berlin

Museum (No. 14,441) of ex-

tremely rough style of woi 1-:

(Fig. 130-

At Hierakonpolis we find

the same female figures, and

these enable us to decide that

the examples described in the

preceding lines, which are of

uncertain provenance, are to be

considered as belonging to the

age shortly befoie the rise of

the first dynasty. There is, in

fact, progress made between

one group and the next, and altliough the pose and the arrange-

ment of the hair mav be the same, one is conscious that the

artist has a feeling for the individuality of the type which is

completely absent in the earlier figures. Like the preceding

examples, a fair number of these statuettes have the e^'es inlaid.

I cannot attempt to describe all these carvings. I'hcy present

but few varieties beyond those I have mentioned. In higs. 132

and 133 are reproductions of the best ivories found at Hierakon-

polis, and now at the Ashmolean Museum. Oxford. I wish

however, to draw attention to the figures wrapped in large

cloaks which we have already dealt with, and also to remark on

two small statuettes, on bases,^ identical in sts'lc with an ivory

1 Budge, A History ofEgyp/, i. p. 53, No. 7.

^ For tlie Hierakonpolis ivories see Quibell, Hierakonpolis, i.\)\.

ix. x.

Fig 130.—Figure of a Woman carrying

A Child on her Shouledrs.

British Museum.




statuette discovered during the winter of 1902-3 at Abydos,

and dating from the first Egyptian dynasty. These are figures

of children carved in excellent style, and free from conven-

tionality^ (Fig. 132, Nos. I Stand 21, and Fig. 133, No. 2).

The same excavations at

Abydos have contributed other

carvings of children, with the

fineer in the mouth, a traditional

attitude^ which we had previously

met with in afigure

from Hiera-

konpolis carved in chrysocolla.''

Also, at Abydos, two ivory

statuettes of women were found,

one of which shows a strong

affinity to the Hierakonpolis

carvings'* (Fig. 128, Ab 5) ;while

the other, according to Dr. Petrie,

already shows signs of the forma-

list style of the Ancient Empire. ''

There are various other figures

which are unimportant, with the

exception of some specimens in

clay and glazed pottery, and the

pretty statuette in gla/cd pottery

reproduced to illustrate hair-

dressing (Fig. 15).

Finall}', to terminate this list

of female figures, we must mention

an interesting statuette in lapis-lazuli, discovered at tlicrakonpolis.

The position of the hands, the slender proportions of the body,

•

IÊTRIE, Abydos, ii. \A. ii.1,and

j). 23.

*lb. ii. pi. ii. 7, 8

; ])1.iii. 18.

'QuiuELL, Hierakonpolis, i.

])1.xviii. 4.

••

Petrie, Abydos, ii. pi. ii. 5ami

j). 24. The same is the casse with the

female fitûres fouiul in the royal tombs at Abydos. Petrie, Royal Toi>d>s, ii.

pi. \\\.b, 8, and p. 21. Amelineau, Les nouvelles foi/illt:s d'Abydos, 1895-6.

comptc rendu in cxlenso, T'aris, 1899, pi.xxxi.

•''

Petrie, Abydos, ii. pi.ii. 2 and pp. 23, 24.

Ih. ii. pi. ix. 184, xi. 23c.

Fig. 131. -Ivory Figure of a Wom.\n

CARRYING A ChiLD.

Berlin Museum.



lyo PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

ocu

zo

<

w

X V

01

O

O

E~3U3

in

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IN

CO




-J

o

zo

< â ow

>o

S3o

u in

11^ 1

5 <o>





SCUTJ^TURE AND PAINTING. 173

found at Thebes. The main interest of tliisf;l>jcct

lies in the

well preserved leather belt, which represents the tightly drawn

thony that held the captive in his crouching position. In all

other specimens this leather thoni^ has disappeared, but this

example shows how similar statuettes should be interpreted (type

of our Fig. 132, No. 19;.

The Hierakonpolis ivories give several examples of these

Ik-;. 135.- iv(ji'.y J- iolkls (if Dwaki...


captives, the arms bound beliind the- back '

(Fig. 14). Objects of

the same type, but in glazed pottery, were found at Hierakonpolis

and Abydos.^ There is al.so a small figure to be noticed at

University College, London, in a hard red limestone, with eyes

of rock crystal, and another fragment of crystal inlaid (>\\ the

top of the head.-' Objects of the first dynasty, where scenes

'

fjuiBELL, JJieraUoiipolis, i. pi.xi. xii,

'^

Jb. i. pi.xxi. 2, 3, xxii. 3. F-'etkik, Ahydos, ii. pi, v. 37, and p. 25.

•'' I'ETRIE Prehistoric Egyplian Figures, in Matt, 1902, No. 14, p. 17, pi. Ii, 1.




occur representing captives, and which we shall consider farther

on, afford proof of the accuracy of this interpretation.

Finally we will deal with the statuettes representing servants.

At Naqada, in a tomb (No. 271), Petrie discovered a row of four

ivory statuettes placed upright, on

the east side of the tomb, several

centimetres apart. They represented

personages (whether male or female

it is difficult to say) having a vase

on the head. Theeyes

are indicated

by beads ^

(Fig. 119, No.7). One

of these is at University College,

London, and also the head of a

similar piece in alabaster.

There are some specimens at the

Berlin Museum, which arc supposed

to have come from Naqada, which

must be included in this list of

statuettes, although they are of a

very different style. Some of these

formed part of the crew of a boat

(Fig. 119, S3, 8, and 11). One of the most curious is the figure

of a woman standing in a large jar, occupied in crushing some-

thing under her feet. The left hand is upon her hip, and with

the

right

she

supports

herself

byresting it on the edge of the

vase^

(Fig. 136).

I have reserved for this chapter some vases of human form

1

Petrie, Naqada, pi. lix. 7, and p. 21; Diospolis, p. 26, where the sequence

date 38 is given. Compare Heuzey, Musee national dit Louvre, Catalogue des

antn/uites chaldeettyies, sculpture ct gravure a la pointe^ Paris, 1902, pp. 96, 97,

105, III, 305, 306, 313-318.^ScHAEFER, Neue Altertibfter der *' new 7-ace''' aus Negadah, in i\\c Zeitschrift

fiir dgyptische Sprache, .xxxiv. 1896, pp. 160, 161. A fragment of a similar figure

has been found at Naqada—see Petrik, Naqada, pi. xxxvi. 95, and p. 41 ;id.

pi. xxxvi. 96, another piece of unknown provenance (Fig. 119); an unpublished

piece at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and a head at University College,

London. It seems that the woman, standing in the jar, is occupied in the

preparation of beer, made by means of bread. See Borchardt, Die

Dii'ucrstatuen aus den Grdbcrn des alien Reiches, in the Zeitschrift, xxxv. 1897,

pp. 128 et seq. andlig. p. 129; Kat. 1895, No. 91.

Fig. 136.—Figure of a Woman

STANDING IN A LaRGE JaR.






number of European prehistoric sculptures.^ The other is a

dwarf of a t)-pe already known, while the fragment appears to

be part of a female figure.- M. Naville compares these with

two terracotta figures in the Athens Museum. With Erman

and Petrie, I do not hesitate to attribute them to the eighteenth

dynasty.^

As regards the figure of the standing woman, bought by

M. Naville at Luxor and published at the same time as the two

preceding ones, I have difficulty in believing it to be Egyptian

work, and I am inclined to connect it with the school of

ceramic art which produced the black incised pottery with

whitish paste, of which we have spoken earlier (P'ig. 137).

Figures of animals are extremely numerous. It is strange to

remark that the primitive artists in general understood better the

rendering of animals than of human figures. They carved a great

variety of animals, and sometimes in materials both hard and

valuable. Of these we will note the most interesting specimens,

classifying them according to their species.

The hippopotamus has been found in almost all the excava-

tions—at Plierakonpolis, Abydos, Diospolis, and at Gebelein

Sometimes it is in clay,' sometimes in glazed pottery, and also,

at times, in stone'' (Fig. 138), There is a figure of a hippo-

•

Reinach, S., La sculpture en Europe avant les influences greco-romaines,

Angers, 1896, pp. 13, 18-20, and figs. 26, 28, 44, 46-49.^Naville, Figurines egyptiennes de I'epoque archatque, ii.,

in tlie Recucil de

travaux relaiifs a la philologie et a Iarclieologie egyptiennes et assyriennes, xxn.

1900, pp. 65, 66, pi. i.-iii.

'

Naville, ib. xxi. 1899, pp. 212-216, pi. ii. iii. These vases may be compared

with those fonnd at Abydos. See Garstang, El Arabali, pi.xix. K 178.

MacIver & Mace, El Anirali and Abydos, pi.xlviii. 1

,and notice of J. L.

Myres, ib. pp. 72-75.*Petrie, Divspolis, pi.

v. B 101 (Ashmolcan Musenm, Oxford); Abydos, i.

pi. liii. 35 (Musees royanx de Bruxelles), and p. 26; ii. pi. ix. 188, andp. 27, x.

225. Von Bissing, AltagyptiscJie Gejdsse im Museum zuGise, in the Zeitsclmfi

fur iigyptische Sprache, xxxvi. 1898, p. 124, andfig.

MacIver & Mace, El

Amrali and Abydos, pi. ix.5.

•^

QuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i.pi. xviii. 18 (see xlviii.

(i^) (Ashmolean Museum

Oxford). Petrie, Abydos, ii. pi. vi. 70, 71, 73, and p. 25.'' Limestone : Petrie, Diospolis, pi. v. B loi, and p. 33 (Ashmolean Museum) ;

Naqada, pi. Ix. 22, and p. 46 (bought at Gebelein, University College, London).

Calcite: QuiBELL & Green, Hierakonpolis, ii. pi.Ixiv.

5,and

\i. 50, tomb 153




potamus which merits special attention;

it belongs to the

museum at Athens, where it forms part of the Di Demetrio

Collection. It is carved in black and white granite, and is

extremely polished. The beast is scarcely disengaged from the

block;

the head only has been treated with some detail. The

Fig. 138.—Figures of Hippopotami in Clay, Glazed Pottery, and Stone.

University College, London, and Ashmolean Museum.

whole effect is heavy and thickset, but nevertheless it is not

without character. Professor Wiedemann, who drew attention

to this curious piece, does not hesitate to attribute it to the

(Ethnograpliical Museum, Cambridge). Alabaster : Petrie, Ahydos, ii. pi..\-. 226,

and p. 27, a specimen in quartzite in the MacGregor Collection, Tamworth (3,334).

Three similar pieces belong to the Randolph Berens Collection at the South

Kensington Museum.

12




Naqada period^ (Fig. 139), and this impression is confirmed by-

comparison with the figures of lions belonging to the primitivê

period which were discovered by Dr. Petrie at Koptos.^

The lion type is specially interesting. The earliest pieces

were discovered by Mr. Ouibell in a tomb at Ballas. They

are in ivory, and show the animal lying down, the head

low, and the tail twisted over the back. It is considered

that they formed part of a game.^ Other specimens, almost

Fig. 139.—Hippopotamus in Black and White Granite.

contemporaneous, were purchased by Dr. Petrie, and arc now

at University College, London. They were probably found at

Gebelein, w^hcre there is a vast prehistoric necropolis, which un-

fortunately has not yet been subjected to regular and scientific

excavation. These lions in limestone are of a type similar to

the Ballas lions;

but already one sees in two of them a

movement of the head which is found in almost all the later

'

Wiedemann, Zu Nagada Periodc^ in the Orientalisiisdic Litteraturzeitung ,

iii. 1900, col. 86.

^

Petrie, Koptos, pi. v.'5,

andp. 7 (one of these at the Ashmolean Museum,.

Oxford).^

Petrie, Naqada^ pi. vii. Q711, pi. Ix. 12, 16, 17, and pp. 14, 35, 46.





i8o PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

The ivory lions discovered in one of the private tombs

which surround the tomb of King Zer, show a further improve-

ment in form. On one of these Professor Pctrie notices two

spots marked above the eyes. This peculiarity is not met

with on Egyptian work, but is frequently observed in that of

Mesopotamia ;he also points out that the position of the tail

Af.^3

Fig. 141.— Small Figures of Lions.

in this figure, twisted over the back and curved at the end, is

identical with those of the prehistoric carvings.^ The final

peculiarity to be observed is that two lines in relief clearly

define the outline of the muzzle (Fig. 141).

The excavations of Amelineau, in the same tombs at

Abydos, had previously produced a lion in ivory,- and also a head

'Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii. pi. vi. 3, 4, and p. 23.

-

Amelineau, Les tioiivel/cs fouillcs d'Abydos, 1895-6, Compte reiidit in

extenso, Paris, 1899, pi. xxxi.



SCULPTURE AND PAINTING. i8i

on which the two h'ncs of the muzzle are inore clearly defined.^

There is an example of larger size in which this peculiarity

is of special interest. This is a limestone statue discovered by

Petrie at Koptos, which reproduces the principal characteristics

of the small figures TFig. 142). One would gladly assign it to

Fig. 142.—Limestone Statue of a Lion from Koptos.

Ashmolean Museum, O.'cford.

the age of Zcr, and this date would equally apply to the

hippopotamus at the museum at Athens. These si)ecimcns are,

however, not sufficiently abundant to enable us to fix with

certainty the appearance of a type.-

'

Amelineau, Les nouvelles foiiilles dÂhydos, jil.xlii. p. 307, where they are

quoted as figured onpi. xli.

^

Petkie, Koptos, pi.V.

5,and

p. 7.



I 82 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

In the Randolph Berens Collection, now deposited at the

South Kensington Museum, there arc two large lions in black

granite and in alabaster found at Abydos. They bear witness to

an art far more powerful than that of the great lion of Koptos,

and they should be attributed, I think, to the first dynasty.

The excavations carried on in the temple of Osiris at

Abydos during the winter 1902-3 yielded a series of ivory lions

Fig. 143.—Ivory Carvings of a IJog'

and of a Lion- from Abydos.

Brussels Museum.

of excellent workmanship. Dr. Petrie, from the style, attributes

them to a date later than that of Zer or Menes. Two of them

are lionesses, and, strange to say, they arc wearing collars. Did

the artist intend thus to indicate that they were domesticated

animals? Another has the eyes inlaid with chalcedony.^

1Petrie, Abydos, ii.

pi.iii. 22, p. 24. CArAUx, Antiquites de Vcpoque

thhiites in the Bulletin des Musees royaux des arts decoratij's et indiistriels

a Bruxcllcs, iii. 1904, p. 83, fig. 2.

^ Capart, ib. p. 83, fig. 4.

^Petrie, Abydos, ii. pi. iii. 23-29, and p. 24. Lionesses : 26 and 28. Eye

in chalcedony : 29.




The excavations at Hierakonpolis led to the discovery of a

remarkable figure of a lion in terracotta, which we shall have

opportunity to discuss in connection with the earliest Egyptian

antiquities. To conclude our examination of figures of lions,

ue must notice an example in glazed pottery, which also comes

from Abydos.^

Figures of dogs are less numerous. They must be divided

into two principal groups—the more archaic type, represented

by glazed pottery figures discovered at Hierakonpolis and Abydos,-

h^ 13. H.iO

Fig. 144.—Figures of Dogs.

and the later type represented by ivory carvings, which already

suggest a resemblance to the lion figures of the time of the

earliest sovereigns of the first dynasty^ (Fig. 143). These dogs

have a collar round the throat (Fig. 144)-

'

Petrie, Ahydos, ii.\i\.

xi. 246, and p. 28.

*

OuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i. pi. xx. 13 and p. 13 (monkey);

ii.

p. 38 (monkey?).Petrie, Ahydos, ii. pi.

vi. 67, 68(?j,

and p. 25.

^ De Mokga.x, RccJicrches stir Ics origincs, ii. figs. 698 rz and l>,and p. 192.

Von BissiNG, Lcs origines dc VEgypt, in I'Aiithropologic, ix. 1898, pi.iii.

figs. 7, 9, II, and p. 249. Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii. pi. \\.a, xxxiv. 21, 22, and

p. 37 ; Ahydos, ii. pi. ii. 13, iii. 22 (Mnsees royanx de Bruxelles), and p. 24.

There is also a specimen in tlie MacGrcgor Collection, Tamwortli (No. 534).




There are two breeds of dogs to be distinguished : a kind of

mastiff, strong and powerful, which was employed in lion-hunting^ ;

and also a breed of large running dogs, of slender build, with

pendant ears, the head much like our modern foxhound, and

with a coat either black and white, or white and reddish brown.^

It is to this class of animal that the dog belongs which is

represented by an ivory carving discovered at Hierakonpolis,

now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford^ (Fig- HS) I^'so two

rough fragments in clay, which Mr. Ouibell recognizes as dogs.^

Fig. 145.—Part of an Ivory Figure of a Dog.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

They are specially interesting from the analogy they present

with European figures'' (Fig. 144). These are almost all the

examples of this species which have been found.

^

Petrie, Abydos, ii.pi.

ii. 13. Ouibell, Hierakonpolis, i. pi..xi.x. 6, and

Fig. 68 of this book.^ See Lenormant, Fr., Sw les animaicx c7?iployes par Ics anciens ligyptiens

a la cJiasse et a la guerre, in the Cumptes rcftdits dcs seances dc VAcadhfiie des

sciences dc Paris, October 31st, November 7th, I4t i, and 28th, 1870. Reprinted

in h'otcs sur itn voyage en fi.gypte, Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1870.^'Ihe feet were carved separately and are now missing. It is the dog of

which a portion only was publislied by Quibell, Hierakonpolis, i.]il.

xii. 7.

The same breed is found, especially at Beni Hasan, under the twclftli dynasty.

.See Newberry, P. E., Be7ii Hasati, i. pi. xxx. See on the dogs of Egypt,

besides Lenormant's article, quoted in tiic preceding note, Bn<CH, TJic Tablet of

Antefaa //., in tlie Transaciioiis of the i>ociety of Biblical Archceology/w. 1S75,

pp. 172-195, pi. and fig.

'' Ouibell & Green, Hierakonpolis, ii. pi. Ixiii. 7, 10, and p. 50.*Reinach, S., La sculpture en Europe avant les influc7tccs greco-romaincs,

fig. 366, p. 125. Hoernes, Urgeschichte der bildenden Kunst ini Europa, pi. xv.

I I -14, and p. 522. The figure, fiicrakoftpolis, Ixiii. 7, appears to me to represent




In the temple at Hierakonpolis, as in that of Abydos,

enormous numbers of figures of apes were found, in stone and

ivory, and also in glazed pottery, white and brown, light green,

and blue or purple.

The most curious pieces are blocks of stone from Abydos,

barely roughed out, and of which the head only is clearly indi-

cated (Fig. 146). By the side of these there was a natural flint,

with a projection bearing a vague resemblance to the head of

a monkey. Petrie remarks that this likeness was the cause of

Fig. 146.—Natural Flints roughly worked to resemble Baboons.

Found in the temple of Abydos.

its being preserved. The great natural flint seems to have

been kept, he says, as being like a quadruped, and [another]

for its likeness to a baboon. No other large flints were found

in the whole temple area, and these must have been brought a

mile or more from the desert. As they were placed with the

rudest figures of baboons that we know, it seems that we have

here the primitive fetish stones picked up because of their like-

ness to sacred animals, and perhaps venerated before any

ahull, and should be compared with those discovered at tlie station of Argar, in

.Spain : see Siret, H. & L., Lcs p7'eviicrs ages du metal da/is Ic sud-est dc l'Kspairjic,

Anvers, 1887, pi. xvii. 1-3, and pp. 123, 124; also with those discovered at Cncuteni.

See BuTZUREANO, Gr. C, Note sur Couconteni et plusieurs autrcs stations dc la

Moldavie du nord, in tlie Conipte 7'cndu du Cong7rs intcniational d'antln'opologie

et d'areheologic prr/iistoriqiirs, tenth session, at Paris, in 1S89, Paris, 1891,

pp. 299-307 andpi. ii. 17, 18.—Informatinn idntrihuted by the Baron de Loc.




artificial images were attempted.^ Wc will not insist on this

point, which touches on the purpose of these figures—a subject

with which we will deal later.

From the temple of Hierakonpolis there is another very

rough stone figure.^ The species of monkey here represented is

the c\'nocephalus, seated on the ground, the fore-paws resting

on the knees. Figures of this class are extremely numerous,

always copied from the same type, sometimes summarily, some-

times worked with careful observation and a regard for detail

which is quite remarkable.^ One group gives the figure of two

small apes seated in front of a large one.^ All these statuettes

are in glazed pottery, except one, which is in ivory'' (Fig. 147).

We must mention, as exceptions to these, another kind of

monkey which inspired the primitive artist to a remarkable

degree. These were found at Hierakonpolis and Abydos, and

represent a monkey who holds her young one tenderly in her

arms,^ the little one turning its head round and looking back

with a gesture of alarm. Or, again, there is the ape seated,

its fore- paws touching the ground. In this last example the

artist has completely separated the paws, which rest in a perfectly

natural manner on a small square base. There is also a figure

of a baboon walking, where the gait has been seized and

rendered with much spirit** (Fig. 147)-

The head of an ape in pottery, now in the Ashmolean

Museum, Oxford, appears to have formed part of a more

finished specimen than the numerous examples just quoted in

glazed pottery.^

'

Petrif, Ahydos, ii. pi. ix. 190-196, p. 27.^ OuiBELL & Green, Hierakonpolis^ ii.

pi. xxxii. i, and p. 43.'Petrie, Abydos, i. pi. liii. 7-9, 1 1, and p. ;j5 ;

—ii. pi. vi. 50-61, 64, 65, and p. 25 ;

ix. 197, 202, andp. 27 ;

x. 217-219, and p. 27 ;xi. 233, 235, 238, 247, 24S, 253, and

p. 28. OuiBELL, Uiaakonpolis, i. pi. xxi. 10, 11;xxii. 11, 12.

<

Petkie, Abydos, ii. pi.vi. 49, and p. 25.

'••

lb. ii.pi.

xi. 12, and p. 24.

lb. ii.

pi. iv. V. 41, and p. 25 (glazed pottery). OuiBELL, Hierakonpolis,

i. pi. xviii. 1 (stone).'

Petrie, Abydos, ii. pi. iii. 16, and p. 24 (ivory).*

lb. ii. pi. i. vii. 86, and p. 25 (glazed pottery).•'

Qun- ELL & Green, Hierakonpolis, ii. pi. Ixii. i, and p. 49.




Fig. 147.—I'lGUKiis or Wonkkys.




Representations of bulls, cows, and calves were already

in use in the prehistoric cemeteries, as was proved by the

discoveries of Mr. Maclver at El Amrah. These animals are

sometimes grouped in rows of four on the same base. Most

frequently they are simply formed of unbaked mud, and so

extremely friable that it is difficult to preserve thcm.^ Occa-

sionally one or two are found which have been baked. At

Diospolis and Abydos other pieces have been discovered, where





190 PRIMITIVE ART IX EGYPT.

promptly, leaving practically no trace. According to the theory

of M. Zippelius, it appears that it was the same with the

horse.^

Small figures of birds make their appearance with the com-

mencement of the primitive period. The specimens discovered

arc in quartz, glazed pottery, stone, bone, and lead.^ The hawk

is the most frequently represented, without feet, as though it

were mummified, in the position so often found on Egyptian

monuments, more especially on the stelae of Hierakonpolis.^

A fair number have been discovered at

Hierakonpolis

^ and

Abydos. The feet are occasionally folded back under the

body, as in the limestone figure found at Koptos, now in the

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. These representations appear to

have been little modified during the first dynasties, to judge

by the models of birds found at Medum, in the temple of the

pyramid of Sneferu, which Petrie attributed, even at the time

of their discovery, to a very remote age.' Does this indicate

that they were copied from a fixed t}'pe, and that the artist did

not venture to depart from the model? The proof appears to

^ OuiBELL & Green, Hierakonpolis, \\.pi. Ixii. 2,

and p. 49, where it is

considered as the head of an ass. Petrie, Abydos, ii.pi.

\. 224, and pp. 27, 49

(read Zippelius instead of Zippelin). Zippelius, Das Pfcrd i7n Pharaoiicnlande,

in the ZcitscJirift filr Pferdekimde und Fferdezucht (Wiirzburg), xvii. 1900,

pp. 125-127, 133-135, 142-144, 149-151-2Petrie, Naqada, pi. Ix. 14, 15, 18-20, and p. 46 (Ashmolean .Museum,

Oxford, with the exception of 20, which is at University College, London).

Diospoiis, p. 26.^QuiBELL, Hierakonpolis^ i. pl. xlvi. 7, 11.

•*

lb., i. pl. xxi. 14, xxii. 14, 15. Ouibell & Green, Hierakonpolis, ii. pl.

xxiii. (beads of glazed pottery in form of birds).•''

Petrik, Abydos, i. pl. liii. 6 (limestone) ;ii. pl.

vii. 79-83 (glazed pottery), 84

(quartz) ; pl. ix. 198 (?), 199 (limestone) ;the base is hollowed to allow of the

figure being placed on a staff or at the top of a standard. See p. 27 ;xi. 242

(glazed pottery). See also Petrie, Diospolis, pl.vii. (no precise description

in the text).There is a specimen of imcertain provenance in the MacGregor

Collection (No. 3,813), and three others of unusual dimensions in tlie Randolph

Berens Collection,deposited

at the SouthKensington

Museum.^

Petrie, Koptos, pl.v. 6, and p. 7.

'Petrie, Medum, London, 1892, pl.

xxix. t-5, and p. 9, 35 :

Glazing of No. 3,

a clear light purplish blue, with dark purple stripes, is also early, and cannot be of

the eighteenth dynasty, nor Iiardly of the twelftii. I think probably, therefore,

that these are contemporary with the decease of Sneferu, and tlie oldest small

figures known (1892).




be found in a smallfi<ûre from Hierakonpolis,' which shows

the admirable way in which the hawk was represented when

the artists were not forced to adhere closely to a model.

Finally, the excavations at Hierakonpolis yielded a statuette,

which is unique, of a pelican, or perhaps a turkey, in glazed

pottery- (Fig. 150).

In the great tomb at Naqada M. de Morgan discovert d a

series of fish in ivory, pierced at the mouth for suspension. On

Fig. 150. —Figures of Birds and of Griffins.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and University College, London.

several examples lines are carefully inscribed on the surface to

supply the details.'' Ancjther fish in glazed pottery comes from

Hierakonpolis.' The same excavations have also contributed

the model of a basket in steatite decorated with fish, and from

'

OuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i. pi. xviii. 5 (schist), p. 7 (Ashmolean Museum,

Oxford) ;ii. p. 38 :

Found in tlie temple, hut not in main deposit, it is doubtless

of later date tlian therest,

and has been put in this place by error, as a fragment

of a diorite bowl v\ itli the name of Khufu incised. . . .

-

OuiBELL, Hierakonpolis^ i.pi.

xxi. 15, xxii. 16,and p. 8.

'

De Morgan,Rccherches stir les

origines,ii.

figs. 701-713,and

p. 193.Capakt, Aoies sur les origines de VRgypte d'apres les fouilles reccntes, in the

Revue de VUniversitc de Bruxellcs, iv. 1898-g, p. 128, note 4 and fig. (separate

reprint, p. 28). A similar fragment was discovered at Abydos. Petrie, Royal

ToniOs, ii. pi. iii. «, 10, and p. 21.

'

OuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i. pi.xxi. 16, xxii 18.

•''

lb. i. pi. xix. 2 = XX. 7, and p. 8.



192 PRhAlITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

the excavations at Abydos come figures of crocodiles in glazed

pottery.^

Figures of scorpions in carnelian are frequently found at the

close of the primitive period (sequence dates 70-80)^

; they were

found in large numbers in the temple of Hierakonpolis, and are

made in various materials—serpentine, rock crystal, haematite,

and glazed pottery^ (Fig- iSO-

Figures of frogs are found, commencing at the primitive

period/ They are of frequent occurrence at Hierakonpolis'' and

Abydos,'^both in stone and in

glazed pottery (Fig. 151).

In conclusion, we must mention a curious figure of a feline

creature with a bird's head, discovered at Naqada. A similar

specimen is at University College, London;

the body of the

animal is ornamented with two gold bands. This may be

identified with the weird animal tt^^.

or —h— K\ S, sga or

sag, which in the twelfth dynasty was still represented by the

Egyptians in hunting scenes'* (Fig. 150).

A fair number of these animal figures are pierced for

suspension, admitting the supposition that they were used as

amulets. We have already seen in Chapter III. that several

schist palettes of animal form present the same characteristic.

We will, therefore, now admit provisionally that several of these

figures had either a magical or a religious purpose. Amulets of

this description, representing crocodiles, frogs, fish, birds, scorpions,

1

Petrie, Abydos, i. pi. vi. 74-76, and p. 25 ; Diospolis, p. 26, figures a crocodile

in serpentine, sequence date 52.

-PEruiE, Diospolis, p. 27, and pi. iv.

^QuiBELL, Hierako7ipolis, i. pi. xviii. 5 (serpentine), 16 (crystal),

22;xix. 5

= XX. 10 (haematite); xxi. 4 = xxii. 4 (glazed pottery);—

ii. pi. xxiii. (glazed beads) ;

xxxii. (haematite).*Petrie, Naqada, pi. Iviii.

; Diospolis, p.26 (sequence date 65).

''

QuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i. pi. xviii. 10, 11, 14.

•^

Petrie, Abydos, ii.pi. vi. 72 (glazed pottery); x. 214 (glazed pottery);

xi. 240, 245 (glazed pottery). Several stone specimens in the Petrie Collection,

University College, London, and three examples in the Randolph Berens

Collection, deposited at South Kensington Museum.^Petrie, \'aqada, pi. Ix. 13.

®CiiJ^BPiS,£tiides sttr Paniiquiie histofique, Paris, 1873, pp. 399-400. Maspero,

Lectures historiques : Histoire ancienne, Paris, 1892, pp. 116, 117, andfig. 67.



SCULPTURE AND PAINTING. 19:

jackals, lions, etc., are found among the antiquities of classical

Egypt.

As we are speaking of amulets, I will quote what Dr. Petrie

has said with regard to a class of objects which are in the form

of bulls' heads :

The oldest form of amulet found is the

bull's head. . . . The origin of this form was a puzzle until an

example was found at Abydos, on which the flat front and

Fig. 151.—Figures of Frogs and of Scorpions,

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and Univcrsitj' College, London.

muzzle form of the lower end left no doubt that it must be

copied from a bull. It begins at sequence date 46, or earlier,

and continues in use till sequence date 6 ], when it is vcr}-

degraded. A form, ai)parcntly continued from this, is found in

blue marble with beads of the twelfth dynasty, so it may c\en

iiavc lasted on as late. Jût the connection with the bull's head

had disappeared early, while the idea of such an amulet seems

to have continued, as we find well-made bull's head amulets

13



194 PRIMITIVE ART IN P:GYPT.

of carnelian at about the close of the prehistoric [era], and

such continued to be used in the fifth and sixth dynasties,

gradually dwindling in size. Dr. Petrie compares with this

fact the painted skulls of bulls discovered in the pan graves,

and continues :

Looking to the West, we find bronze bull's

head amulets in Spain, and

large bronze bulls' heads to

hang up on buildings in

Majorca {Revue arcJieologique,

1897, 138). Gold bull's head

amulets are found in Cyprus

and Mykenae, and at present

cows' skulls are hung on houses

in Malta, and fruit trees in

Sicily and Algiers, to avert the

evil eye. The whole subject of

bucrania is opened by these

prehistoric bull's head amulets. ^

A very fine specimen in

ivory belonging to the Berlin

Museum (No. 14,964) shows

clearly that it is intended for a bull's head (Fig. 152).

^

Petrie, Diospolis, p. 26; Naqada, pi. Iviii.

;Prelusioric Egypticai Carx'ings,

in Mail, 1902, No. 14, p. 17, pi. B, 8-16; Abydos, i. pi.li. 4, 5,

and p. 23;

ii. pi. .xiv. 2cSi, and p. 30. ScHAEFER, Neue Altertimier der '' nezv race'^ aus

Ncgadah, in the Zcitsc/ir/Jf fiir iigyptische SpracJic, xxxxv. 1896, fig. 6, p. 180.

On the subject of bucrania in Egypt see Wiedemann, Zii Petrie s nciicn Fmidcii,

in the Orientalistische Litteraturzeitung, ii. 1899,001. 182-184; Compte rendu dc

Hierakonpolis, i. ib. col. 331. Golenischeff, l.cttre a M. G. Maspero siir irois

pctitcs trouvailles egyptologigues, in tlie Recueil de traTaux relatifs a la philnlogie

et a Varclieologie egyptien/irs et (issvrieiutes, xi. 1889, p. 98. Lefebure, Les Huttes

de Cham, in the Museo/i, xvii. 1898, p. ^yô et sc(/.\ Rites egyptiens : Constructio7i

et protection des edifices {Pi/blicatiotts de PJicole des lettres d'Alger : Bulletin de

coiTCSpondance africaine), Paris, i8go, p. 20 et seq. Naville, The Festival

Hall of Osorkon II. in the great temple of Bubastis, London, 1892, pi. ix.9,

and

p. 21. Daressy, Catalogue gateral des mitiquitcs cgyptiennes du Musce du Cai?c;

Ostraca, pi. v. No. 25,019 Crevers), and p. 5. Masi'ERO, La Pyramidc du roi Ounas,

in the Recueil de travaux relatifs a la philologie et a Varclieologie egyptiennes et

assyrienfies, iv. 1883, p. 48, line 423 ;and the variants in La Pyramidc du roi Teti,

ib. V. 1884, p. 29, line 242. Capart, Lafete dcfrapper les Anou, in the Revue de

rhistoire des religions, xliii. 1901, pp. 252, 253 (separate reprint, jip. 4, 5).

Fig. 152.—Bulls Head Amulet in

Ivory.

Berlin Museum.






European figures, they have a tenon in the middle of the back

to permit of their being suspended^ (Fig. 154).

In certain tombs of the earHest primitive period, between the

sequence dates 3^ and 44, there is found a pair of ivory horns

or tusks. One is always solid, the other hollow. They are

Fig. 154.—Double Bull's Head Amulets.

Hilton Price Collection.

sometimes quite undecorated, ending in a point, and pierced at

that end for suspension ;sometimes at the pointed end there is

a groove and ring. In this case there are two eyes, and lines

indicating a beard engraved on the surface of the horn;in some

^ Hilton Price, Some Ivories from Abydos, in the Proceedings of tlic

Society of Biblical Archcrology^ xxii. igoo, p. 160 and plate. The block of onr

Fig. 154 has been lent by the kindness of the Society of Biblical Archaeology.'^

Petrie, Diospolis, p. 21. MacIver & Mace, El Amrah and Abydos,

pi.vii. 2, and p. 48.




instances the eyes are represented by beads. ^

Occasionally, also,

and this is the most interesting form, the horns terminate in a

human head, worked with care. On the top of the head there

is a ring for suspension- (Fig. 155).

The precise purpose of these objects is difficult to determine.

Fig. 155.—Magical I.nstruments (?) in Ivory.

University College, London, and Ashmolean Museum.

Dr. Petric supposes that they formed i)art of the equipment of a

sorcerer, or medicine man. The horns remind him of the belief

of the negroes of the Gold Coast, who imagine that white men

can by enchantment catch the souls of the natives in horns.

•

Petrie, Naqada^ ])1.Ixi. 34, 35 ; |)].

Ixiv. <Si, andjij). 19, 21, 47.

- Hilton Price, Two objects fro?n prehistoric tombs, in the Zcitschrift fiir

(igypt/sc/ie Sprache, xx.\vii. 1899, p. 47 and fig. Notes upon some Predynastic

and Early Dynastic Anti(jii/tics from Egypt in tlie writer's collection, in

Archaologia, hi. 1899 (separate reprint, p. 2, and fig. 1).




and convc}' them thus to their own country to make them

toil for them.^ In the Congo certain negroes believe that the

sorcerers can gain possession of human souls, enclose them in

ivory horns, and sell them to the white men, who make them

work in their country on the sea coast. They imagine that a

large number of labourers at the coast are men who have been

procured in this manner. When one

of the natives goes there for purposes

of commerce, he frequently searches

anxiously for his dead relations. The

man whose soul is thus given over

to slavery will die rapidly or in-

stantaneously.

I would gladly connect with this

belief the custom observed by Alice

Werner in British Central Africa. An

old woman carried round her neck a

hollow ivory ornament, about 3 inches

in length and in the form of a round

peg, pointed at the top, with a slight

groove by which it could be suspended.

This object, which exactly corresponds

to the Egyptian ivories, was called

by this woman her life, or her soul.

Fig. 156.—Magical InstrumentNaturally, she WOUld not part with it;

MADE OF Horn, from Katanga. 1•

, . • 1 • •

.1,, . . ^ „ ^ ,a colonist tried in vam to buy it


of her.^

This interesting ethnological comparison appears to be con-

firmed by an object said to come from Katanga, which I have

recently had the good fortune to acquire (F ig. 156). The magic

instrument is made of horn;the patina which covers it, as well as

the deep grooving formed by long use in the suspension holes,

indicate that it dates back a very considerable number of years.

It is now at University College, London.

'

Petrie, Naqada, p. 47; DiospoUs, p. 21.

-

Frazer, The Golden Bough, 2nd ed. i. p. 279.^

lb., 2nd. cd. iii. p. 407, note 4.




Certain of the prehistoric tombs of Naqada contain cla}'

models of boats, sometimes decorated with paintings (Fig. 157).

We have already seen that one of these boats was painted in

an unsophisticated fashion on the edge with small human

figures representing rowers.^ The crew was also represented

at times by small clay figures- (Fig. 158). According to

Professor Petrie, these paintings show that they were not

intended to represent boats built of wood, but those made of

Fig. 157.—Models of Boats in Clay and Ivouy.


reeds or papyri tightly bound together, such as were in use

throughout the whole of the historical period in Egypt.'' A

specimen in alabaster, from the ro\al tombs of Abydos, distinctly

shows this method of construction.'

Similar boats have been discovered in the excavations at

'

Petrie, Naqada, pi. xxxvi. 80, ^\ a and h, and y\K ij, 41 : pi. Ixvi. i, and

p. 48. De Morgan, Recherches siir Ics origincs, ii. p. 91, figs. 235-237, p. 90.

-

ScHAEFER, Nc7tc Altcrtumer dcr nczu race aus NegadaJi, in tlie Zeitschrift

fur (igyptlschc Sprachc, xxxiv. 1896, pp. 159, 161, fig.

^

P2rman, Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 479 et scq.'

Petrie, Aliydos, i. pi. ix. 4.




EI Amrah^ and at Abydos.- They also occur frequently in the

great find of ivories at Hierakonpolis. The shape of one of these

specimens strangely recalls the Venetian gondola^ (Fig- I57)- The

presence at these various sites of boats in clay and ivory is of

very great importance. We shall have occasion to refer to it

again, more in detail.

A clay model of a house, discovered at El Amrah, gives

us an idea of the habitations of the primitive Egyptians, and

Fig. 15S.—Pottery Boat with Figures of Men.

Berlin Museum.

shows that they were made of beaten mud, probably covered

with strips of palm wood imbedded in clay—wattle and mud.

A door is inserted in the wall at one end, and at the other

end arc two windows;

the door already shows the principal

characteristics of the door-shaped stelae of the Ancient Empire'

(Fig. 159)-

'

MacIver & Mace, El Amrah and Abydos, pi. ix. 8, and p. 41.^Petrie, Abydos, ii. pi. iii. 20, and p. 24 (ivory) ;

vii. 89, 90, and p. 26 (glazed

pottery).^

QuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i. pi. v. and p. 6.

^MacIver, a Prehistoric Cemetery at El Amrah in Egypt: Preliminary

Report of Excavations, in Man, 1901, No. 40, p. 51, and fig. i, p. 50. MacIver &




A tomb discovered at DiospoHs contained fragments of a

model of a fortified enclosure, with figures of two men looking

over the walP (Fig. i6o).

We have now completed our examination of the principal

pieces carved in the round, and we should proceed to study

the primitive drawing and painting. We must, however, not

Fig. 159.—Clay Modki. of a Hol'sf. discovkkkd at Ki. Amkaii.

omit to mention the carvings in low relief described in the

chapter on ornamental art—reliefs on the slate palettes, on

handles of knives, on fragments of furniture, and on vases in

pottery and stone. We shall see in the following chapter that

Mace, El Ainrah and Abydos, pi. .\-. 1-3, and]>. 42. .Soo, 011 the houses of tlie

primitive age, Petrie, T/ie Sotirces and Growth of Architcctior, in the Journal

of the Royal InsttUitc of British Architects, third series, viii. 1901, pp. 341-343,

and figs. 1-4.

'

Petkie, Diospolisy pi.vi. B 83, and

ji. 32 (Ashmolcan Musi'inn, ().\fnrd).



202 PRIMITIVE ART IX EGYPT.

this art developed greatly at the commencement of the historical

period, and that it produced masterpieces of extraordinary power.

The primitive drawings and paintings arc to a large extent

already known to us. We have met with them in personal

decoration, on the slate palettes, on the vases, and principally

upon the pottery. In this chapter it only remains for us to

examine two classes of drawings, the graffiti engraved on the

rocks and the paintings of a prehistoric tomb discovered by

Mr. Green not far from Hierakonpolis.

Upon the rocks of the Arabian and Libyan mountains

Fig. 160.—Clay Model of a Fortified Enclosure.


there has been observed and copied, although unfortunately in

a very incomplete fashion, a scries of drawings of men, animals,

and boats in a style identical with that of the pottery marks and

the paintings on decorated pottery.^ This has led to the legitimate

'

Wiedemann, Lcs tnodes d'cnsevcUsscmciit dans la nccropolc de NcgadaJi et

la questio7i de I'origine die peuple egyptien, in De Morgan, Recherches sicr les

oiigines de I'J^gypie, ii. p. 222, and note i, where the following works are

quoted :

—De Morgan, loc. cit. i. p. 162 ct seq. and figs. 487-492. Golenischeff,

Utie cxcHi'sion d Bcraiicc, in the Rcciieil dcs traiumx rchitifs a la philologic et

n Varcheologie cgyptieiities et assyriennes, xiii. i8go, j)l. iv. 17, pi. vii. 62.

Petrie, Teti Years' Digghigy 1881-91, London, 2nd ed. 1893, p. 75, fig. 57 :

To judge by the weathering of the rock, it seems probable that they were

begun here long before any of the monuments of Egypt tliat we know. The

usual figures are of men, horses, and boats, but there are also camels, ostriches,

and elephants to be seen.




conclusion that they also belong to the primitive age. These

drawings are frequently mixed with representations accompanied

by hieroglyphic inscriptions, and in some cases it is extremely

difficult to establish a clear line of demarcation between the

primitive graffitiand those of more recent date.^ In some

cases, however, there is no possible doubt. I must quote

as specially noteworthy in this respect 'some graffiti copied by

M. Legrain at Gebel-Hetematt,^ which closely resemble those at

Silsileh noticed by Dr. Petrie.-''

The most important graffiti,which appear to me to belong

to the primitive period, will be found in Fig. 161. Their analogy

with the pottery marks in P'ig. 1 1 1 is particularly remarkable.

Some of these animal figures are arranged in squares, as on the

red pottery with white paintings. Certain curious representations

may perhaps indicate the use of the horse. This remark should

be taken in conjunction with the theory of M. Zippelius, to

which we have recently alluded.

One of these graffiti merits special notice. A man is

apparently thrusting a harpoon into an animal's hide, which

seems to be stretched on the ground, with another harpoon

already fixed in it. In this representation I see an analogy with

that of an ivory tablet discovered in the tomb of King Den

Setui, of the first dynasty.'

In Wady Hammamat, the great road which connects the

Nile Valley with the coast of the Red Sea, M. Golenischeff

has noted several graffitiwhich also seem to belong to the

primitive period, notably representations of the ostrich, and even

' The primitive graffiti can be distinguished from those of the hiôric period

by the patina which covers them. See SchweinI'L-rth, G., Aegyptischc

Ticrbildcr ah Kicsclartefakte, in Die Umschau, vii. 1903, p. 806: Diese

Tierbilder versetzen uns im Geiste in jene Zeiten, da die Urbewohner von

Acgypten und Nordvvestafrika iihnliche Zeichnungen in die Felsvvande

einkratzten, die in den Sandsteintalern Oberiigyptens hiiufig angetroffen warden

und von deren hohem Alter die briiunHche Patina Zengnis ablegt, mit der die

Linien bedeckt erscheincn, wilhrend datierte Inschriften aus der Zeit der5. und

6. Dynastic (bei el Qab), die z. T. iiberdi^

alteren liinweg eingeritzt wurden,

aussehen als vvaren sie von gestern, wie Prof. Sayce bezeugen kann.

- De Morgan, Recharhcs siir Ics ori;îiies dc Vligyptc, i. fig. 487, p. 162.

•'

Petrie, Ten Years' Digging in Egypt, p. 75. ^g- 57-

'

Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii.pi.

vii. 11; Ahydos, i. pi.

\\. 8.




^r-^

Fig. i6i.— riKAriTii irom thk Rocks of Ui'pkr Ecypt.

The three figures at the bottom arc from the soutli of tlic province of Oran.



sculpturp: and painting. 205

of a man lassoing an ostrich. We must also mention a boat

which occurs here, although it is not absolutely identical with

the primitive boats, and it should perhaps be attributed to the

Ancient Empire.^ The quarries of Silsileh have also furnished

a large number of similar graffiti, personages, ships, animals,

etc.- In conclusion, we must mention the graffiti of ¥A Kab,

and more especially of a boat which is an exact counterpart of

those of the tomb of Hierakonpolis, which we shall presently

consider.^

Itis

scarcely necessary to mention that similar graffiti havebeen found among peoples differing widely from each other

;

among the Australians,' the Bushmen,^ and even in the French

prehistoric graves. A most striking resemblance exists between

the Egyptian graffiti and those in the south of the province of

Oran;here the identity is almost absolute. The comparison,

when extended to the designs engraved on the vases (Fig. iii),

is exceedingly striking, and we find here a new proof of the close

connection between the primitive Egyptians and the Libyans.^

M. Zaborowski has attempted to demonstrate that these graffiti

constitute the embryonic forms

of hieroglyphic writing.** What

we have already said on the subject of primitive hieroglyphs will

^

GoLENiscHEFF, Inscripiio7is dii Oiiady Havwianiaf, in the Mcmoires de la

Section orientate de la Societe itnpcfiale russc d\irchcologie (in Russian), ii. 1887,

pi. V. 1-3, pi. xiii.

-

Antiquities in Egypt: Prehistoric Rock Drawings, in the Graphic,

January ist, 1898, fig. 7, with four photos.^Green, Prehistoric Draivings at El Kal), in the Proceedings of the Society

of Biblical ArchfBology, xxv. 1903, pp. 371, 372, witli pi. and fig.

•*

Crosse, Les Dclnds de I'Art, pp. 125 et scq.

'

Crosse, ib. p. 138 et scq. and, pi. iii. Christoll, Fred., An snd de

VAfrique, Paris, 1897, Comptc rendu in VAnthropologie, xi. 1900, p. 78 et scq.

^See, among others, L. Capitan, L. & H. Breuil, Les gravnres sur les parols

des grottes prchistoz-iqites, la grotlc dc Combarcllcs, in the Rc7/uc de I'Ecole

d'anthropologie de Paris, xii. 1902, pp. 33-46.'Bonnet, Les gravtircs snr roches du snd Oranais, in tlie Revue

d^cthtiographie,viii.

1889, pp. 149-158 and fig. Compare fig.6 with our

Fig. in;P- 155 :

Ouelqucs personnages ont les bras leves dans I'attitude de I'admiration

on de la priere. Csell, Les nwnunicnts antiques de PAlgcrie, i. Paris, 1901,

pp. 41-54, and figs. 10-14. i'lie ram bearing the disc on his head, fig. 13, p. 46,

may be compared to our Fig. 1 1 1, Am 19.**

Z.vborowski, Origines africaincs de la civilisation de Pancicnne ligyptc,

in the Revue scientifique, fourth series, xi. 1899, pp. 293, 294.






important conclusion that the artist apparently did not attempt

to arrange his figures in any definite order;the different scenes

are inserted where he found room to place them, after finishing

the larger objects, such as the ships.

We will now examine these representations somewhat closely

(Figs. 162, 163). The first objects which strike us arc the six large

boats which occupy the greater part of the space, and which

remind us of the boats on the decorated pottery, and also of the

terracotta models which we have already described. The difference

which distinguishes these boats from those painted on the vases

is that wê see no more of the parallel lines which start from

the lower edge and descend vertically. At the bows we notice

the cable for tying up the boat;on the deck some palm branches

cast a shade over a small erection. In the centre two sliszht

constructions serve as cabins. On one of the drawings the

hinder cabin is seen surmounted by a post, a kind of small mast,

to which emblems are attached. This is also met with on the

drawings of boats on the decorated pottery. In the stern of oneof these boats a man is seated, working a long oar, ending in

an oval blade, which acts as rudder.

As we have hitherto studied all the objects relating to boats, we

may refer to a very serious objection which has been raised on

this subject, and which, I think, is refuted by successive discoveries.

Basing his remarks on the drawings of boats on the decorated

pottery published by M. de Morgan and Dr. Petrie, and also

on the specimens at the British Museum and at the Ashmolean

Museum, M. Cecil Torr considered that the long curved lines,

which have been considered as representing ships, are in rcalit}'

indications of a rampart ;that the straight shorter lines, the

so-called oars, indicate a species of glacis ;that the gaj) which

can be observed in this row indicates the approach to the

rampart ; and, finall)', that the objects considered as cabins arc

in

realitysmall towers

placedon the two sides of the entrance

to the rampart.^

i\I.Lorct has resumed M.Cecil Torr's arguments, but modif)-ing

' Cecil T(iRK, Sur (/itclqucs prcicmiiis navircs cgypticns, in I'Anthropologic,ix.

1S98, p. 35.






Torr and Loret object that, although gazelles and ostriches

are found above and below these so-called vessels, fish and

aquatic animals are nc\er represented.

On this point it is only necessary to refer to our Figs.

84 and 93, where the boats are surrounded by hippopotami,

crocodiles, and fish.

Rowers are never seen figured, they say, and the vertical or

oblique lines, if they represent oars, should start from the upper

line of the hull, and not from the lower part.

The oarsmen, in fact, are not represented ;but as we have just

said, on one of the boats in the Hierakonpolis tomb, there is a

,^S^

.*

Fig. 163.— Paintings on the Primitive Tomb of Hierakonpolis.

sailor managing the rudder. Again, it may be admitted, without

in any way disproving the identification of these drawings, that

the vertical lines are not oars. Even at that date M. de Morgan

was inclined to consider them rather as fishing tackle.'

An argument of far greater importance is supplied by Dr.

Petrie, who has found these same lines in Egyptian representa-

tions, where it is impossible to doubt that the}' are intended

to represent a ship. In fact, in one of the halls of the temple

of SetiI.,

at

Abydos,there is a

verycareful

drawingof the

bark of the god Sokaris, and the prow, which is very high, is

the prow rises well above the cabin. SeeSrEiNDORKr, Eiuc ncuc Art agyptischcr

KuHst, in Aegyptiaca, Festschrift fiir Georg Ebcrs, p. 125.• De Morgan, Rccherches sur les origines, ii. p. 91.

14




actually decorated with a series of lines recalling those that

we find on the primitive boats.^ It is a curious fact that the

sacred bark has three oars with broad blades, acting as rudder,

such as is seen on one of the prehistoric representations.- The

temple of Denderah also presents a bark of the god Sokaris, of

later date, where the lines we speak of have almost disappeared.'^

As to the palm branches placed in the bows, thc\- shade the

place where the pilot is seated.^

With regard to the emblems placed on a post above the

cabin, wc must agree with Dr. Petric and M. dc Morgan in

considering them to be signs indicating either the proprietor of

the boat, the tribe, or the port of sailing.^ Petrie, in this

connection, recalls a story told by Strabo of the sign of a ship

Fig. 164.—Standards on the Primitivk Boats.

lost in the Red Sea;when exposed in the market-place at

Alexandria it was recognized by a mariner of Gades (Fig. 164).

In the space unoccupied by the boats various figures are

represented, principally relating to hunting wild beasts, which

are las.soed, or caught in a trap shaped like a wheel. The trapped

animals are gazelles of various kinds (Fig. 165), and this drawing

recalls the decoration of a cup discovered by Mr. Maclver at

*

Petrie, Archaological Notes, in Caulfield, The Teinple of the Kings at

Abydos, London, 1902, pp. 15, 16, and pi. vi.

^ See Fig. 91.•'

Mariette, Denderah, iv. pi. 64 (after Petrie). Petrie, Naqada, p. 48. Budge, A History of Egypt, i. p. 71 et seq., where

the question of barks is thoroughly discussed. De Morgan, Rcchcrches sur les

origines, ii. figs. 240-264, and p. 92. The author believes rather tliat it is intended

for the sign of the tribe to which the proprietor of the vessel belongs.

* De Morgan, Recherches sur les origincs, ii. p. 93, and fig. 247-264.



SCULPTURE AND PAINTING. 21 I

El Amrah, now in the University Museum, Oxford.^ On the

upper part of the wall, to the left, a man brandishing a club

attacks a lion(?).

Another personage is drawing a bow. Farther

on, antelopes of various kinds, which it would be rash to

attempt to identify precisely, are scattered here and there, and

also birds, one possibly a bustard. It is very tempting to

recognize equidê in the figures on the right ;and to do so would

be perfectly in accordance with the observations we have already

made.

On one of the boats, above the stern cabin, there are two

P'iG. 165.—Gazelles caught in a Trap and Religious (?) Representations.

Painted tomb of Hierakonpolis.

small human figures roughly sketched;

above the boat three

women arc standing, their arms raised in the attitude characteristic

of dancing.

The most interesting scenes are depicted under the boats in a

line immediately above the painted base of the wall. On the

left we see a man holding a cord, which is tied round tiic necks

of three crouching captives, whom he is preparing to snn'te 01^

the head with his mace. This is an important representation,

' MacIver & Mace, loc. cil. pi. xv. 17.




which gives us the prototype of the monuments of the Ancient

Empire, such as the bas-reliefs of Wady Magarah or of Sinai,

where the king of Egypt brandishes his mace over a vanquished

enemy. In front of this group there are two personages, each

of whom holds in his hand the sceptre which in the historic age

is the attribute of divinities and of the king, and which does not

appear in any other capacity, except in the hands of shepherds.^

Immediately afterwards one comes to a strange group consisting

of a man standing, holding two lions(?) by the neck while they

stand on their hind feet. We have already spoken of a similar

figured engraved on the ivories discovered in the temple of

Hierakonpolis (Fig. io8). It is difficult to avoid recognizing in

this group a religious scene, especially when one compares it

with analogous representations of the Aegeo-Cretan people.

Continuing the examination of the wall to the right, we see

an antelope caught by a lasso (the hunter has disappeared) ;

then, a man, who appears to be dismembering with his hands

another antelope which is lying on the ground with the feet tied,

in the position we know already on the two pieces discovered at

Hierakonpolis and Abydos. May we not recognize in this scene

the capture of the victim by means of the lasso, as Seti I. depicted

it at Abydos, and then the dismemberment of the animal

probably before a religious symbol. It is difficult to identify

exactly what is the object in front of the man who is sacrificing.

I am much inclined to

recognize

in it thepillar

111,which

would confirm an hypothesis which I put forward in a former

work '

(Fig. 164).

'

V. ScuEiL, To7nbeaux thchains, h Tomheaii d'Apoin, in tlie Mi'moircs publics

paries i/icmbrcs dc la Mission a?-cheologique franfaisc du Cairc, v. p. 610, and pi. ii.

-

Mariette, Fouilles exeaitees en Rgypte, en Nubie et an Soudan, Paris,

1867, ii. pi. 50. On comparing the te.\t of Unas, 423, and Teti, 242, with these

scenes, I am disposed to rt'cognize the hunting of Apis quoted on tlie Palermo

stone. See Masfero, review of Pellegrini, Nota supra ufia Iscrizionc Egizia

del Museo di Palermo, in the Revue ciitique^ 1899, P- 4- Naville, La piefTe

de Palermo, in the Reciieil de travaux, xxv. 1903, p. 71. Schaefer, Ein

BruchstUch altdgyptischer Annalen, Berlin, 1902, pp. 21, 23.^Capart, La fate de frapper Ics Anou, in the Revue de I'liisloire des

7-eligions, xliii. 1901, pp. 266, 267. Spiegelberc, Dcr Stabkultus bei den Aegypten,

.in the Recucil des travaux, xxv. 1903, p. 190, note 3.




Following this scene of dismemberment \vc find two groups

of combatants, of which we have already given a reproduction

(Fig. 26), and three women (?) crouching on the ground.

We would also point out, on another wall of the tomb, two

figures of men walking, the style of painting having already

progressed. Both carry a staff curved at the top, and also the

sceptre 1 forked at the base.^

The information given on the subject of the colours employed

is as follows. The ground, as we have already stated, is yellow

ochre or white. The blacks are a blue-black, and do not seem

to be pounded charcoal. All the boats, except one, have been

painted white, over which a wash of bright green, granular in

structure, probably pounded malachite, had been put. The

exception is a boat with a high prow and comparatively low

stern, which is painted blue-black. The outline of the figures

was drawn first in red ochre;

the white of the dresses has in

many instances overlapped this outline. The eyes were put in

v/ith a thick pasty lump of white;

the pupil being represented

by a blue-black spot on this.^

If we attempt to recapitulate, in a few words, the scenes

depicted on the paintings and graffiti, we should say that they

consist of hunting scenes, of navigation, and possibly, as at

Hierakonpolis, of religious scenes. We must remember that on

the decorated pottery, independently of the skcuomorphic designs,

we have only found representations of similar character.

We may ask why the primitive P'gyptian inscribed such

scenes on the rocks, on the sides of tombs, and on his earthen-

ware vases? VV'as he obeying an imperative artistic craving?

The question has recently been solved, at least in part, in an

important article by Al. Salomon Rcinach on LWrt ct la magic

a propos des pcintnrcs ct dcs gravurcs dc I'dgc du rcnnc? The

primitive Egyptian culture, we believe, contributes invaluableevidence on this subject, and perhaps it will not be without

interest if we linger over it for a short time.

' OuiBELL & Green, Hierakonpolis, ii. pi.l.xxix.

-lb. p. 21.

'111 rAittliropologie, xiv. 1903, pp. 257-266.



214 PRIMITIVE ART L\ EGYPT.

M. Salomon Reinach thus expresses himself on the subject

of the art of the cave-men :

To begin with, I have estabHshed

what has long since been observed, that designs borrowed from

the animal world are by far the most numerous;

also what

appears to me to be new, that the animals represented may be

termed exclusively such as are used for food by tribes of hunters

and fishermen—these animals being desirable, while others which

were not thus used may be classed as undesirable. These un-

desirable animals include the great feline tribe, such as the lion

and tiger, the hyena, jackal, the wolf, and various kinds of snakes,

etc. From the establishment of this fact an important deduction

is arrived at—the knowledge that the troglodytes, in drawing, in

painting, and in sculpture, did not merely seek to occupy their

leisure, or to fix their visual memories in order to gain from

their companions admiration for their dexterity. The severe

choice which presided over their artistic activity implies for this

same activity some object less trite than those which have been

alleged up to the present. They knew what they were doingand why they did it. They were not idlers and dreamers, in-

scribing or painting any familiar silhouette, no matter what,

following the fancy of the moment.

Availing himself, therefore, of the contributions of ethnology,

the French scholar recalls the fundamental principles of magic,

as established by Frazer's grand work. In magic, two very

simple and logical ideas serve as the basis of all ceremonies,

and of all manipulations. The first is that like produces like,

or that an effect resembles its cause ; and second, that things

which have once been in contact, but have ceased to be so,

continue to act on each other as if the contact still persisted.'

In the first case we have imitative magic ;in the second, sym-

pathetic magic. Imitative magic consists in representing a being,

an object, or an action with the object of bringing into existence

the

beingor the

objectwhich is

represented,or to

provokethe

action which is imitated, perhaps at times independently of

sympathetic magic ; sympathetic magic, on the contrary, is always

combined with imitative magic.

'

Frazer, The Golden Bough, i. p. 9, 2nd ed. 3 vols. 1900.




In the case we are considering the distinction is not easy,

as regarded from the point of view of primitive mentality.

When we speak of drawing an animal figure in order to bring

that animal into existence or to act upon it, we actually

believe that we are dealing with imitative magic, while for

primitive man there is nothing of the sort. In fact, if the repre-

sentation has any influence on the being which is represented,

it is entirely owing to the fact that this representation is

something which has emanated from that being, absolutely as

would be the case with his reflection in a mirror or in water.

One of the consequences of this idea is to inspire people holding

this belief with a dread of being represented in effigy, a fear

which is widespread and which certain forms of religion have

taken into account in forbidding the painting or sculpture of

the human figure.^

These general ideas of the fundamental principles of magic

among primitive people need development ;but this branch of

study would lead usfar

from our subject.I

can onlyrefer to

Frazer's work,- requesting the reader to forgive my being unable

to lay before him more completely the proofs of my assertion.

French primitive man, according to M. .Salomon Reinach,

must have drawn and inscribed figures of the desirable animals

upon the walls of the caverns, with the object of procuring

the like, or of multiplying the species.

It is the expression

of a very crude but very intense religion, consisting of magic

practices having for their sole object the supply of daily food.•'

An interesting confirmation of this method of viewing the

matter has been supplied by the researches of Messrs. Spencer

and Gillen among the aboriginal tribes of Central Australia

These tribes, as M. Reinach relates, periodically celebrate a

ceremony called inticliiunia, differing according to the various

clans, but having the immediate object of multiplying the par-

ticular

species,

whether animal orvegetable,

which is the totcin

'

Reinach, La sculpture en Europe avant Ics injluences i^rcco-ronianus.

p. 260. Frazer, loc. cit. i. p. 295-297.-

Frazer, The Golden Bough, 2nd ed. 3 vols Macinillaii, London, 1900.

^Reinach, loc. cit. p. 265.



2i6 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

of the tribe. Describing the ceremonies of the emu clan, they

(Spencer and Gillen) state that certain of the clan let their own

blood drop on a .surface of three square metres until the soil is

well impregnated with it. When the blood has dried they take

pipe-clay, yellow ochre, and charcoal, and on the area reddened

by the blood they paint the sacred image of the eiiin totem

with yellow and black circles, which represent the bird's eggs

either before or after they are deposited. It is round this figure

that the men of the clan come to crouch and sing in chorus,

while the chief, or master of the ceremonies, explains the details

of the drawings. Having been told the object of these rites,

we have an incontestable example of the magic use of a painted

image to induce the multiplication of the model. ^

Sometimes these figures are painted on the sides of rocks

in places which are strictly taboo for women and children. Amongthese representations there arc animals, human heads, and the

imprints of the footsteps of Vv'omen of the mythological period

ofCentral

Australia.-

Certainly, says M. Reinach,

it would be rash to postulate

for the troglodytes of the reindeer age totem cults identical

with those of the Aruntas of Australia at the present time;

but, short of wishing to renounce all attempt at explanation, it

is more reasonable to search for analogies among hunting tribes

of to-day than among the agricultural people of Gaul or of

historic France. Now the representation in the depths of our

caves, of animals suitable for food, to the exclusion, as I have

already remarked, of carnivora, will clearly show whether the

religious condition of the troglodytes was similar to that of the

Aruntas, as studied by Messrs. Spencer and Gillen. -^

Do the primitive Egyptians, with the numerous artistic

manifestations that we have studied in the preceding pages,

permit us to maintain or to upset this theory? Can wc, on

'

Reinach, Ioc. cit. p. 262.* Spencer & Gillen, The Native Tribes of Central Australia, London, 1899,

figs. 124 and 132. See, on the subject of the ititic/iiuma ceremonies, the work

by DURKHEIM, E., Siir le totanisjne, in the Annce sociohîqite, v. 1902, pp. 82-121.

Compte rendu by S. Reinach in I'Anthropologie, xii. 1902, pp. 664-9.

^Reinach, Ioc. cit. p. 263.





2i8 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

religion.^ It is permissible to suppose that, under certain circum-

stances, the tribes assembled in certain localities sacred to the

cult in the same way that the Australians celebrate the inticJiiinna

in certain localities, which are always the same.- Greek authors

relate how^ numerous barks laden with entire populations habit-

ually went to Bubastis to celebrate the feast of the goddess.^

The ideas of death entertained by all primitive people render

it easily comprehensible why the walls of tombs were inscribed

with scenes analogous or identical with those found on the rocks,

the purport of which savours of magic. If the living multiplied

paintings and sculptures of useful animals and made representa-

tions of boats with a utilitarian object, the deceased, who in his

tomb lived a life scarcely different to that of the living, would have

a similar desire to benefit from the result of these representations.

The tombs in Egypt were extremely small, and could scarcely

contain the contracted corpse. Thus the walls could not suffice

for the representation of scenes necessary for the dead. They

were, therefore, drawn on the sides of the jars which containedhis provisions, and it is for this reason that so many vases

are painted with boats and animals. The plants that we

find, and that we have already mentioned, are aloes, which

are cultivated in pots, and still retain in Egypt to the present

day the property of averting the evil eye. As to the dancing

scenes which we believe we have recognized, they would be

explained by the funerary and magical nature of primitive dances.

We will speak of them in a special chapter.

Certain figures of the Hierakonpolis painted tomb, moreover,

confirm the religious nature of these representations, and they

reproduce, as we suppose, the ceremonies of the cult.^

When Pharaonic Egypt makes its appearance in the paintings

^

See, for example, Lefebure, Rites egyptiens: Construc/ioii et protection des

edifices, p. 86 et seq.

2 Spencer & Gillen, loc. cit. fig. 24, p. 171, and fig. 33, p. 195.*Herodotus, ii. 60. See Wiedemann, Herodots zwcitcs Buck mit saclilichen

Eriduternitgen, Leipzic, 1890, p. 253 etscq.

'' On the subject of tlie cult of tlie pillarHj,

I am struck with the frequent

appearance of the pole in Australian ceremonies. See Spencer & Gillen,

loc. cit. passim. Index, Pole.




and sculptures of the tombs of the Ancient Empire, it seems

that things arc but h ttle changed. Figures of animals and

also scenes of navigation still occur repeatedly. Here, where

doubt is no longer possible, we are certain of the reason of these

representations. They exist solely for the purpose of procuring

for the deceased the realization of the objects depicted on the

walls of the tomb. The religious formulae which accompanythese scenes show the Egyptian of historic times employing

magic methods in order to ensure to the deceased a peaceful

and happy existence, methods which in reality arc only the de-

velopment of those employed by his primitive predecessors. No

•doubt this is the explanation of numerous primitive sculptures.

We have mentioned models of boats, and also of animals.

•On this point a grave objection may be made to the theory of

M. Salomon Reinach. In Egypt it is not only desirable animals

that are represented. As we have seen, there are also figures

of the undesirable animals—the hippopotamus, crocodile, scorpion,

frog, lion, jackal, monkey, and even the griffin with the bodyof a lion and the head of a bird.

The answer which meets this objection appears to us a simple

one. The primitive Egyptians, when we first know them, are

already advanced to such a degree of civilization that we maybe justified in supposing that, in addition to magic formulae, the

object of which was to secure a supply of food, they also possessed

religious beliefs of higher development, such, for example, as the

animal cults. The monuments of ancient Egypt afford sufficient

;proof of the existence of such cults at the commencement of

Egyptian history to enable us to recognize, in the hippopotamus,

•the goddess Thueris ^

;in the crocodile, the god Sebek

;in the

scorpion, the goddess Selkit;

in the frog, the goddess Hekit;

in

' The figures of the hippopotamus are perhaps intended to enable the

deceased to enjoy the pleasure of hippopotamus hunting. See Prisse

D'AvENNES, Histoire dc Part egypticn, atlas ii. \A. x. At the British Museum there

is a statue in breccia of the goddess Thueris in liippopotamus form, wliicii was

at first attributed to the Sai'tic period, then to the arcliaic age ;but as doubts

have been raised as to its authenticity, I have not dared to make use of it as

.a proof. See Budge, A History of E}(ypf, ii., i^gypt under the Great Pyramid

Jitiilders, fig. p. 5, Britisii Museum, No. 35,700.




the lion, the goddess Sekhmet or the god Atum ^

;in the jackal,

the god Anubis;

in the ape,- the god Thot;

in the griffin, the

god Mentu, etc. The cults of these divinities apparently did not

exist at this age with all their later developments ;but I see in

the fact that these Egyptian divinities of the historic age were

represented by these animals, the proof that from primitive times

they had been the object of a cult. If it were possible for me to

enter here into details of theories relating to fetishism such as

is practised by the negroes of the coast of Guinea, or of totemism,.

it would be easy to make it clear how it could happen that

these animals, on which it was supposed that the well-being

and existence of the entire tribe depended, became actually

desirable. Thus the theory proposed by M. Salomon Reinach

finds a striking confirmation among the primitive Egyptians.

Models of boats frequently occur in Egyptian tombs of

Pharaonic times, and also models of houses have been found.

The primitive tombs have yielded representations of servants,

of women, and of dwarfs, whose presence may be explained in

the same way. The servants are given to the deceased to

accompany him in the other life, and the numerous statues of

servants found in the mastabas of the Ancient Empire bear witness

to the persistence of this custom. Wives accompany their

husbands, and a statuette discovered at Naqada, with a model

of a bed,'^ recalls similar representations of Pharaonic times.

Dwarfs and deformed persons served to amuse the deceased^

as did the buffoons for the living ;and here, again, the repre-

sentations on the tombs of the Ancient Empire confirm this view.

The religious texts indicate the importance of dwarfs in the

next world.'

The figures of captives, which we have previou.sly mentioned

would be more difficult to explain if the foundation rites of

' On the subject of lions and apes see also Lefebure, Kites cgyptlens :

Construction ct protection des edifices, P- 5^ et seq.^ The figures of apes are perhaps intended to provide the deceased with pet

anirnaliJ. See Lepsujs, Doikindlcr, ii. 13.'

FÊTKiE, Naqada, pi. xx.xvi. 83, and p. 4I.•

Maspero, 6ur line formule die Livre des Pyramides, iu tlie fUudcs de

tnytliologie et darcheologic cgyptienncs^ ii. pp. 429-443.




tombs, of temples, and of houses amongst the primitive people

did not come to our aid and indicate the motive for their

presence.^

These are victims sacrificed as

guardiansof the

monument, and Egyptian civilization did not succeed in entirely

banishing this custom. The representations on a Theban tomb

of the New Empire furnish us with a conclusive proof of this.-

It may be considered surprising that the primitive temples

of Hierakonpolis and Abydos contribute so many objects similar

to those found in the tombs. This coincides with the conception

of the Egyptians— not to say of all primitive nations—of the

house, the temple, and the tomb, between which there seems

to be no essential difference. The tomb is the house of the

dead;

the temple is probably cither the house of the living

god or the tomb of the dead god. Unfortunately we can only

briefly indicate these points, without entering into the develop-

ments which are not directly connected with our subject.

The results of our investigations in this chapter tend to show

that of radical differences there are scarcely any between the

sculptures and paintings of the primitive Egyptians and those

of Pharaonic times.

The following chapter, devoted to the earliest Pharaonic

monuments, will show that if the style of art productions was

transformed, this transformation was effected in so gradual a

manner that we can follow it step by step. New elements were

introduced, but the primitive art was only changed by them

in the same manner as that in which a nation itself alters b}'

frequent admixture of foreign blood.

1

M[onseur], E., review of Sebillot, Les travaux publics ct Ics mines dans

Ics traditiotis et Ics superstitions de torts les pays, Paris, 1894, in the Bulletin dc

Folklore, ii. fasc. iii. iv. 1893, p. 177, where the bibliographical indications

relating to this point are to be found. The same primitive beliefs may also

explain certain animal figures. Le but de ces sacrifices est de procurer a la

construction un genie protccteur.-

Maspero, Le tombcau dc Mcntouhikhops/iouf, in the Manoires publics par

les mcmbrcs de la Mission arc/icologique fraufaise an Cairo, v. fasc. 3, pp. 435-468.



222

CHAPTER V.

THE EARLIEST PHARAONIC MONUMENTS.

DURINGthe winter of 1893-4, in the course of excavations

on the site of the temple of Koptos, Petrie and Ouibell

discovered a number of stone monuments quite apart from

anything known in Egyptian work.^

They comprised three

human statues considerably over life size, three lions, and a

bird, and are entirely hammer-worked, showing no trace of the

chisel or of any metal tool.

We have previously had occasion to speak of the lions and

the bird, and we have seen that, owing to recent discoveries, it

is possible to assign them their position in the classified series

of remains, extending from the primitive period to the first

Egyptian dynasties (Figs. 142 and 150).

The three statues represent a personage standing in the

characteristic attitude assigned by the Egyptians to the god

Min. The legs are parallel and joined, and are marked only

by a slight groove in front and behind;the knees are scarcely

indicated. The arms, roughly worked, project but little from

the body ;the position of the right arm differs from that of

representations of the god Min in the classical period ;instead

of being raised to hold a whip, it is hanging down the side.

The fist is clenched, and a hole pierced through the hand shows

that the figure should hold some kind of emblem, possibly the

whip itself. The only garment indicated is a girdle formed of

a piece of material wound eight times round the body ;one end

falls down the right side, broadening to the base (Eig. 166).

'

Petrie, Koptos, p. 7.



THE EARLIEST PHARAONIC MONUMENTS. 223

On this end there arc various designs, indicated by outHnes

more deeply hammered, and which probably are an attempt at

rendering embroidery.

In the first statue the designs are a stag's head fixed on

Fig. 166.—Statues of the god Min discovered at Koptos.


a stake, the top of which enters the mouth of the animal;

below this are two ptcroceras shells.

On the second statue there are also two ptcroceras shells,

two saws of the saw-fish of the Red Sea, and, finally, two

poles, on the top of which arc fixed emblems identical with




the sign which later on was used for writing the name of

the god Min, and recalling the sign engraved upon a slate

palette discovered at El Amrah, of which we have given a

reproduction (Fig. 6^).

On the third statue the designs are more complex. The two

poles with the Min emblem are separated, as in the preceding

specimen, by the saws of saw-fish, the teeth of which are in this

case worked with a flint-knife instead of being hammered. A

knotted pole is joined to one of the Min emblems, and below

the other there is a drawing of an ostrich. In addition, there

are two large pteroceras shells, an indefinite figure, then an

elephant, a hyaena (?),and an ox, the feet of which are placed

on small triangular objects^ (Fig. 167).

We have already had occasion to notice similar figures on

the decorated pottery, Vihere we find men hunting animals

whose feet are placed on a succession of triangles, apparently

intended to represent mountains (Fig. 88). On a fragment of

sculptured ivory from Hierakonpolis elephants are likewise seen

standing on these triangles (Fig. 109). We may, then, connect

these archaic statues with the primitive remains, even though

they are manifestly intended for a representation of an Egyptian

<iivinity. Without insisting here on the deductions which have

been drawn from the presence of these statues at Koptos, we

may say, in passing, that they provide a powerful argument to

those who wish to bring the dynastic Egyptians from the land

of Punt,situated

onthe east coast

of Africa, on the bordersof

the Red Sea.-

With the exception of Professor Petrie, the discoverer of these

statues, the only scholar who has attempted to determine their

age is Professor Steindorff, of Lcipzic. Judging from their style

he attributed them to the prehistoric period.^ Petrie, on the

•

Petrie, Koptos, pi. iii. iv. and pp. 7, 8. The head of one of the statues has

•been found, but it is much mutilated. It shows that the god was bearded. The

face has sufiered most. See Pktru:, ib. pi. v. 4 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford).^Petrie, Koptos, pp. 8, 9. History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the

Sixteenth Dynasty, 4th ed. Loudon, 1899, p. 12.

•'

Steindorff, Eine neue Art dgyptlscher Kiinst, in Aegyptiaca, Festschrift

yur Georg Ebers, pp. 130, 140, notes i, 41.




Fig 167.—Hammered Designs on the Archaic Statues of the god Min.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (l and 2); Cairo Museum (3 and 4).

15






minute examination of the entire group, that these objects were

indeed Egyptian, but of the prehistoric age.^

It was at this time that Ouibell discovered at Hierakon-

polis two pieces of the same class. They were complete, and

furthermore, on one of them was inscribed in hieroglyphic

characters a royal name. Unfortunately, the name does not

Fig. 1 68.—Archaic Statue discovered at Hierakonpolis.


correspond with any of those known to us from the royal lists

of later date, and at the present time opinion is still divided

as to the exact position that should be assigned to it.- It is,

' M. de Morgan arrived at the same conclusion. See De Morgan, RecJierchcs

sur les origincs, ii. pi. ii. iii. fig. 864, and p. 263 ct scq., where M.Jequier comparesthem with the knife-handles shown in our Figs. 33 and 35.

-

Petrie, History of Egypt from the Earliest Titnes^ etc., 5th ed. 1903,

pp. 7-9. FoucART, Les deux rois iticonnus d^Hierakonpolis, in the Cojnptcs

rendus de VAcadc7nic dcs inscriptimis et belles lettres, 1 90 1, pp. 24 1 -249. Naville,

Les plus ancietis 7fio?uimeitts egypliens, iii.,in the Recucil de travaux, etc., xxv.

1903, pp. 206-208, 218-220.




nevertheless, incontestable that this king, who is called Nar-Mer

by general agreement, belonged to the earliest period of Egyptian

history. He deposited several objects in the temple at Hierakon-

polis, among them a great slate palette and an enormous mace-

head, both decorated with scenes in low relief, which supply us

with an instance of common objects diverted from their ordinary

use to become ex-votos.^ Their discovery dispelled all doubt as

to the age of similar objects, and henceforth they must be dated

from the close of the prehistoric times, or the commencement

of thedynastic

era.

It is impossible to give here a detailed description of these

interesting pieces, as it would be necessary to raise extremely

difficult questions, the solution of which would occupy many

pages-; nor can I attempt to indicate the facts relating to the

history of primitive Egypt which have been drawn from the study

of these objects.^ I must content myself with giving illustrations

of them, and adding some remarks on the analogies which we

notice between these pieces and those of primitive times or of

the historic period.

Basing our selection on the style, we should place first on

our list a fragment at Cairo (Fig. 169), published by Professor

Steindorff.'* It represents a boat similar to those known to us

1

Capart, La fete de frappcr les Anon, loc. cit. xliii. 1901, pp. 251, 252.

Naville, Les plus ancients momiments egyptiens, iii. loc. cit. p. 223.*Legge, The Cafved Slates f7vm Hlerako7ipolis and elsewhere, in the Pro-

ceediiigs of the Society of Biblical Archa;ology, xxii. 1900, 125-39, with nine plates;

Another Carved Slate, ib. pp. 270, 271, with one plate; A New Ca^'ved Slate^

loc. cit. xxvi. 262, 263, with one plate. Steindorff, Einc iieiie At't dgyptischer

Kunst, in Aegyptiaca., Festschriftfiir Georg F.bers, pp. 122-141. J.L.

]VI[yres],

review of Legge, Carved Slates from Hierakonpolis and clsewhei'e, in the

Journal of the A7ithropological Institute, xxx. 1900; Anthropological Reviews

und Miscellanea, pp. 15, 16, pi. B, C, D. Capart, La fete de frapper les Anoti,

in the Revue de riiistoirc dcs religions, xxii. 1901, where an almost complete

bibliography will be found of the great palette of Hierakonpolis. M. Bencdite,

in a work on the new palette at the Louvre, gives a summary study of the whole

group. Benedite,Une nojivelle

paletteeti

schiste,in \.\\e Monutnents ct memoires

pjitblics par l'Academie des inscriptiojis ct belles lettres, x. 1903, pp. 105-122 and

pi.XI. See also Jolles, Die antithetischc Gruppe, in the Jahrbuch der Kaiserlich

deutschen Archeologischen Institut, xix. 1904, p. 37 et seq.

3 Newberry & Garstang, A Short History of AncientEgypt, London, 1904,

pp. 14-19.^Steindorff, loc. cit. fig. p. 124.




from the prehistoric remains. This is surmounted by two signs

one of which is the bird'^^, rekhyt, which we have met with

already on a vase with relief decorations from Hierakonpolis,

in what may be a pictographic inscription (Fig. T ^. Professor

Steindorff, with perfect accuracy, noted the resemblances which

exist between the boat here represented and those figured in

the earliest hieroglyphs.

A fragment at the Louvre and two others at the British

Fig.169.

—Fragment of a SlatePalette.

Cairo Museum.

Museum belong together, and united form almost a complete

palette^ (Fig. 170). In the centre there is a round cavity, in-

tended apparently to contain the green paint by means of which

the divine statue or the king officiating in the temple was painted.

Surrounding the cavity are traced hunting scenes. To the right

and left of the palette, two bands of huntsmen are chasing the

animals of the desert;at the top there is a lion offering a vigorous

resistance. The type of lion gives us at least a clue to the date

'

Heuzey, Egyptc OH Chaldec, in the Comptcs rcndiis de I'Acadcviic dcs

inscriptions et belles letires, i8gg, pi. of p. 66, and pp. 62, 63.






X

\^l

-^

/^

-^

fV:

^. ,-f.

^v^ n^-'

1V

Fig. 170.—Slate Palette with Hunting Scenes.

Louvre and British Museum.








him in Egypt for the Louvre Museum (Figs. 173 and 174). It

is closely allied to the small Hierakonpolis palette, especially

in the figures of animals whose outlines form the contour of

Fig. 173. —Slate Palette (Recto).

Louvre Museum.

the object, but with this difference, that in this case there are

four jackals (?) instead of two on each face. Here appears for

the first time a curious design treated very awkwardly ; namely,

two giraffes facing a palm tree. We shall find this motive




brilliantly developed on a palette of which there are fragments

at the British Museum and at Oxford.^

If we attempt to characterize the style of these last palettes,

Fig. 174.—Slate Paletie (Recto).

Louvre Museum.

whichshow so much similarity

inthe ornamentation, wc

shall

say with M. Heuzey-

: As to the st}'le, it is in cvcr>' respect

^

Benedite, Une notcvelle palette en schistc, in the Moiit07icnts et Memoircs

publics par VAcadcJiiie des inscriptions et belles lettrcs x. 1903, pp. 105-122,

pi. xi. Legge. See p. 228, note 2.

-

Heuzey, loc. cit. p. 64.



2^6 PRIMITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

such as we have defined from the first, a reaHsm which is crude

but full of energy, which attempts to render movement, and at

the same time robust forms with salient muscles, not only in

human figures, but also in those of animals even of the lightest

and most agile species, such as the ibex and antelope. Nothing

can be farther from the Egyptian style, as it exists early on

monuments of the Pyramid tim.es, and if any one of these

figures had been shown to us separately, without any indication

'

1.'*' ./^^. ^S

Fig. 175.—Fragment of a Slate Palette (Recto).

Cairo Museum.

of its origin, it is to Chaldaa, or Assyria, or one of the countries

bordering on these, that we should have assigned it.

A small fragment at the British Museum should also be

included in this same category;

here at the top of the circular

cavity there is part of a recumbent animal, and below are two

ostriches identical with those of the two preceding pieces.

A second fragment at Cairo is carved with representations

differing very little from those on the preceding example. Instead,




however, of being scattered in haphazard fashion over the surface

of the palette, the animals are regularly separated into three

rows: in the first are bulls; in the second, asses; in the third,

rams.^ This decoration recalls the figures of animals on the

knife-handle in Fig. 35, in which Petrie recognized the regular

Egyptian style of the tombs of the Ancient Empire.^ With

these must also be compared the Hierakonpolis ivories repro-

duced in Fig. 109. Below the third register there are trees almost

Fig. 176.—Fragment of a Slate Palette (Verso).

Cairo Museum.

identical with those which appear in the hieroglyphs of the

beginning of the fourth dynasty.^

Thestrongest proof

that the Cairo fragment should be

• DiJRST & Gaillai^d, Studicn iibcr die Gcschichte dcs iigyptischcn llaus-

schafcs, in the Rcciicil de iravaux, xxiv. 1902, p. 46.

2Petrie, Naqada, p. 51.

^Lepsius, Defikfftiilcr, ii. 7.






by M. Beneditc. The palm branches, he says, form a

decoration of great elegance. The cluster of fruit at the top

adds a motive which assumes singular importance in the midst

of the simplicity of detail affected by the remainder of the

palette. Finally, in this fragment it is impossible not to be

struck with the interest presented by the position of the head of

the gigantic animal. Seeking its food at the summit of the tree,

it appears to inhale with extended nostrils the appetising scent

Fig. 178.—Fragment of Slate Faleite (Verso).


of the fresh palm branches and of the pollen of the blossom.

Above the body of one of the giraffes a large bird vaguely

suggests that on the painted tomb of Hierakonpolis (Fig. 162).

The other face evidently depicts a field of battle strewn with

corpses, which arc being torn by birds of prey. A lion has

seized one of the corpses by the abdomen, and is attempting

to tear out a piece. The inert body, which entirely abandons

itself to being seized, is most happily rendered. The lion bears






THE EARLIEST PHARAOXIC MONUMENTS. 241

16




a resemblance to the figures we have previously described,

principally in the lines of the muzzle and the two spots on the

forehead (Fig. 141). Above this scene of carnage, a person

wrapped in a large embroidered mantle, recalling that of the

Fig. 181. —Fragment of Slate

Palette (Recto).

Louvre Museum.

small ivory statuette of Abydos (Fig. 122), pushes before him

a prisoner, whose arms are bound behind his back, while a

heavy stone(?)

is hung round his neck (Figs. 177 to 180).

The living standards play a direct part in the scene engraved

on a fragment of a palette from the Louvre. Five ensigns

surmounted by emblems of gods, among others of the god Min,




end in a human hand grasping a strong cord. This is, in reality,

an actual pictographic inscription, as is also the scene which

constitutes the upper part of the palette ; a bull vigorously

trampling a man under his feet, and about to transfix him with

Fig. 182.—Fragment of Slate

Palette (Verso).

Louvre Museum.

his horns. This, as Schaefer was the first to recognize, is already

an instance of a king Strong Bull

overthrowing his enemies.^

'

Steindorkf, Elne neiie Art d^yptischcr Kunst, he. cit. p. 131, note i. Mr.

Offord remarks that in the epilogue to tlie Code of Hammurabi, the king, in

boasting of his victories, calls himself'

the mighty steer who overthrows tlie

enemy.'




;r:.-j*-r

Fig. 183.—Slate Palette of Nar-Mer (Recto).

Cairo Museum.




Fig. 184.—Slate Palette of Nar-Mer (Verso).

Cairo Museum.




The type of the vanquished enemy should be observed, also the

hair and the curled beard, as well as the girdle from which the

karnata is suspended. On the reverse of this palette the principal

scene is repeated, but this time the place of the animated standards

is occupied, as in the second Cairo fragment, by crenellated

walls representing fortified towns. In the centre of these walls

hieroglyphic signs give the names of cities (Figs. 181 and 182).

Fig. 185.—Fragment of Slate Palette.

Louvre Museum.

The symbol of the king, Powerful Bull, destroying his enemies,

occurs again on the great palette discovered at Hierakonpolis,

where the bull has overthrown with his horns the crenellated

walls of a town. This palette, with the name of King Nar-Mer,

raises discussions of extreme complexity, for which we mustrefer to special works published on this subject.^ We observe,

'

They will be found recapitulated in Capart, La fete de frappe?- les Atiou,

loc. cit. See also Naville, Les plus anciens inontime7its egypiiens, iii.

appendix, in the Recucil dc travaitx, xxv. 1903, pp. 223-225. Weill, K.,




however, the great h'on-like animals with serpents' necks, which

are also found on a Chaldêan cylinder at the Louvre.' Such

an identity, says M. Heuzey, between two motives, both of

which arc of such precision and complexity, cannot be the effect

Fig. 186.—Great Mace-head of King Nar-Mer.


Hieraconpolis ct les origines de VEgypte, in the Kevne archc'ologique, 1902, ii.

pp. 119-121. (juiBELL & Green, Hiera/co?tpolis, ii. pp. 41-43.'

Heuzey, Egypte ou CJialdcc, in the Cot/tptes reiidus dcs seances de

VAcademic des inscriptions ct belles leilres, 1899, pp. 66-68 and pi. of p. 62.

The leopard (?) witli tlie neck and head of a serpent is not without parallel in

Egyptian art. It is the fantastic animal named 'ft. seilja, which is liguredcJii

in Imntmg scenes at Beni Hasan. See Newberry, Jkni Hasan, ii. pi.iv. It

also occurs on tlie magical ivories of the twelfth dynasty. See Capart, La fete

defrapper les Anoit, lac. cit. p. 264.




of chance. It can only be explained by very close relations

between primitive Chaldaa and the earliest Egyptian civilization.

The explanation only gains in force and emphasis if one admits

that a race originally Asiatic arrived on the banks of the Nile

and founded the earliest dynasties, bringing to the black popu-

lations of Africa the elements of an art which had already

taken form. This fact is simple and rational in itself, not only

conforming to the traditions of humanity, but also to the laws

of history and to that which we know of the great currents

followed by the human race (Figs. 183 and 184). On this

palette we find a use of hieroglyphs similar to those of dynastic

Egypt, and, nevertheless, pictography has not entirely disappeared.

On the recto, above the head of the barbarian smitten by the

king, a singular group is sculptured, composed of a human

head, a bunch of papyrus stems, and a bird. Opinions are

unanimous with regard to this;

it is intended to signify that

the god Horus, or the goddess Nekhbet, vanquished or seized

sixthousand foes, or perhaps that they overthrew the people

of the north.^

There is also a small fragment in the Louvre Collection,

extremely archaic, representing a group of people on the march,

which was bought at Beyrout

by Ary Renan. There is no

doubt that the fragment must be placed with the earliest of this

class of objects (Fig. 185).

We must not leave this series of objects without observing

to what extent details are found which are allied to primitive

Egyptian art, by the side of others which are characteristic of

Pharaonic monuments. The ivories of Hierakonpolis and Ab}'dos

stand alone in supplying a convincing and satisfactory succession,

forming a link between prehistoric and historic work. We must

bear in mind what we have already mentioned, that before

anything was known of primitive Egypt, Professor Steindorff,

with his

perfect knowledge

of

Egyptianart and

archaeology,arrived at the conclusion that these palettes belonged to the

' CAPART, ib. p. 256.-Lettre de M. Ary Renan a M. G. Parol, in the Revue aixhcologique,

tliird scries, ix. 1887, pp. 37, 38, with fig.




prehistoric period. Now

that we possess, owing

to the Hierakonpolis

discoveries, a palette

bearing the name of an

Egyptian king, we are

forced to recognize that

we are confronted with

actual Pharaonic monu-

ments. The hesitation

one feels in pronouncing

judgment on these slate

palettes appears to me

to be the best proof

that there was not at

any given moment in

Egypt a sudden change

of direction in artistic

conceptions. We have

already had occasion to

remark this, and we will

return to it when we

have to formulate our

conclusions.

King Nar-Mer, who

dedicated the great

palette of Hierakonpolis,

also deposited in the

temple the head of a

mace of colossal size,

inscribed with scenes in

low relief. Several of

thepersonages

on this

palette may still be

recognized— the servant

carrying the sandals,

another on the identity




of whom writers are not agreed/ and the men carrying the

standards. The reliefs on this mace-head show a roughness of

workmanship which denotes a less practised hand (Figs. i86 and

187) than that which carved the great palette.

Without entering into a detailed study of the scenes on this

mace,^ we must notice the three bearded men dancing before

the king, who is seated under a dais placed on a platform, to

which a ladder affords access. Both before and behind these

dancers three crescent-shaped objects are represented. When

these objects make their appearance in the classical period, they

have acquired a regular form. It is difficult to say what they

represent. We must be content to observe that in the texts

these crescents

occur in the composition of the titles of certain

officials.^

The remains of a second mace of more perfect type bear

the name of a king who has hitherto not been identified with

any certainty. Among other scenes we here see the king pre-

siding over public works (Figs. 188 and 189). Can this be the

opening of a dyke ? On one of the canals there may be

seen the prow of a vessel which recalls those of the primitive

period. In the lower angle at the right the remains are

'

Naville, Les plus ancicns vionunioits cgyptiens, iii. loc. cit, xxv. 1903,

pp. 223-225.*OuiBELL, Hicrakoiipolis, i. pi. xxvi. b.

^P'oucART, G., La plus vieillc Egyptc, ii., Les niottiwicjits com7ncmoratifs

dti Scd a Hieraco7ipolis, in the Sphinx, v. igoi, pp. 102-106. Moret, A., L)n

Caractere religieux de la royaute pha7-ao7iiqiie, Paris, 1902, p. 242, andfig. 71,

p. 240. Weill, R., Hicraco/ipolis et les 07'igi7ies de r£gyple, in the Revue

arckeologique, 1902, ii. pp. 121, 122.

•

Lepsius, DeTt/cTniiler, ii. 129. Newberry, Bent Hasa7i, i. pi. xxxv. p. 41.

ScHiAPARELLi, Musco a7-cheologico di Fire7ize, A7itichita egizie, i. pp. 266, 267,

369, 468. See Griffith, Hic7-oglyphs, pi. iii. 36, and p. 64.•^ FoucART, G., Les deux 7ois i7ico7i7ius d''IIieraco7ipolis, in the CotTtptes

rcndus des seances de VAcadetnie des inscripiio7is et belles leiires, 1900, pp. 230-241.

Naville, Inc. cit. xxv. 1903, \>.218.

^Quibell, Hie7-akunpalis, i.

pi.xxvi.

c, pp. 9,10. M. Maspero here recog-

nizes, with sufficient probability, the ceremony of Khebs to, digging out the

ground, which took place at tiie foundation of temples. See Maspero,Ma/iual of Egyptian Archceology, 5th ed. London, 1902, supplementary

chapter, p. 353, note. Lefebure, Rites cgyptie/is : Const7'uctio7i et protectio7i

des edifices, p. 32. Mariette, Denderah, p. 133, and i. pi. 20. Brugsch, Die

Aegyptologie, p. 425.




distinguishable of a small vaulted construction similar to that

found on the top of the slate palette reproduced on Fig. 170.

In the middle register, to the left, some persons are being carried

in palanquins, as on the mace of Nar-Mer, and men wearing a

long tress of hair hanging down their backs are executing a dance.

Dancers with this same tress may be seen on the fragment of

a third mace, which is too much mutilated to allow of an accurate

idea of the whole design.' These maces, which again differ in

Fig. 1 88.—Great Mace-head of an Unidentified King.


style from the Egyptian classical monuments, introduce us, never-

theless, to scenes which reappear at subsequent periods.

It is the same with a fiiirly numerous series of objects

discovered in the royal tombs of Abydos. These are small

plaques, of ivory or wood, engraved with shallow lines sometimes

filled in with a blackish paste, showing a great variety of scenes

and inscriptions (Fig. 190).

The largest of these plaques was discovered in the tomb of

the king whom scholars are apparently agreed to identify with

Menes, the first king of the first dynasty, according to the

'

QuiBELL, ilierakonpolis, i. pi.xxvi. a, aiui p. 8.




Fig. 189.—Detail of the Principal Scene on the Great Mace-head

OF an Unidentified King.

I'.lock lent by the Egypt Exploration Fund. See Archceolosiciil Report, 1897-8, p. 7, plate.




historians of the classical period.^ The scenes and descriptions

are divided into four superposed registers. In the first at the

iiil

mir >vj*-'

-

^j^:.

V^Ca-jHTiS *.« «-'»

\'^ j:' i -oy:^

'l^

Fig. 190.— Specimens or Small Ivory and Woouex Plaques discovered ix

THE Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty at Auydos.






Finally on Fig. 190 there are various other fragments

representing captives, servants, and possibly the vanquished,

bringing tribute and rendering homageto their

conqueror.^

The resemblance between these captives and those on the slate

Fig. 191.—Small Plaque in Glazed Pottery discovered at Abydos.

palette of Oxford and of the British Museum is important to

note, as also the representation of the personage in the long

of the name of this king and also the position that he occupies in the dynasties ;

he reads Khesket, and considers he is not earlier than the second dynasty. See

Naville, Lesplus anciens monuments egypiicns, iii., loc. cit. x.w. 1903, pp. 219, 220.•

Petrie, Royal Tombs, ii. p. iii.rt:, i, 2, and iv. 4-6, 11, 12, and pp. 21, 22.

A fragment which tits on to that published by Petrie, pi. iv. 11, was discovered

earlier by Amelineau. See Amelineau, Lcs noiivclles fouillcs d'Abydos, 1895-6,

Co?7ipte rendu in cxtenso, Paris, 1899, pi. xlii. and p. 307, where the fragment is

described as being on plate xli. It is now in the l^russels Museum.




mantle on the same piece. The strange method of arranging the

hair which we notice on Fragment 5 of our figure is seen also

on two of the Hierakonpolis maces. Petrie, in his classification

of the archaic races of Egypt, is inclined to see in these figures

Fig. 192.—Private Stel^ from the Royal Necropolis of the First

Dynasty at Abydos.

men of the hill tribes of the eastern desert (Gebel Dorkhan and

Gebel Ataka).^

An object which is very curious as regards style was dis-

covered in the course of Petrie's excavations at Abydos during

the winter 1902-3. It is a small plaque or tile of green glazed

pottery, bearing in low relief a figure of a man walking, his

'

Petrie, The Races of Early Egypt, in the Journal of the Anthropological

Institute, x.xxi. 1901, p. 253, andpi.

.xi.x. 13, 15.




staff in his hand. An inscription, also in relief, occupies part of

the space left unoccupied in front of the figure (Fig. 191). Petrie

writes thus on the subject:

It has no groove or dovetail onthe back, but is quite plain ;

it does not seem, therefore, to have

been intended to insert in a wall, but rather as if made for a

votive offering. The figure is of a low type, the negroid variety

of the prehistoric people, and neither of the pure Libyan or

dynastic races. P^rom the inscription we must attribute him

to the Anu, who are known as an aboriginal people in Egypt. He

appears to be a chief called Tera-Neter,'

devoted to God,' of the

fortress of the Anu in the town of Hemen. ^ The reading of

the hieroglyphic inscription is very uncertain, at least as regards

several of the signs of which it is composed.^' The extreme

rudeness of the modelling recalls the carving in low relief on

the private stelae discovered round the royal tombs at Abydos,

of which we give some specimens^ (Fig. 192).

If it were desirable to characterize in a few words this series of

objects,it

might besaid that

they betrayindecision.

Theartist

appears to hesitate as to the manner in which he should dispose

of his figures ;the hieroglyphs are carved without order, very

different from the fine regularity of the inscriptions of the Ancient

Empire. These objects betray the awkwardness of the mason,

who copies signs without understanding their meaning. The

variants of the same sign are considerable, and the publication

of hieroglyphs of the first dynasty, announced by Mrs. Petrie,

will strongly emphasize this fact. The contrast is striking when

one examines the hieroglyphs on the royal stelas of the first

dynasty, which have not at any age been surpassed for dignity

and beauty.^

It was evidently at this period that the fusion occurred between

the primitive art and that which the Pharaonic Egyptians may

have possessed at the commencement of their occupation of the

Nile

Valley.

It was at this time also that the

Egyptianstyle

'

Petrie, Abydos, ii. pi. i. v. 33, and p. 25.-

Athcna-um, October 24th, 1903, p. 544.'

Petrie, Royal To?nbs, i. pi. xxx.-xxxvi.;

ii.pi.

xxvii.-xxx. r?.

'

lb. i. frontispiece; ii. pi. xxxi. Amelineau, Lcs notivellcs foiiilles

d'Abydos, 1895-6, p. xlii.

17



258 PRBIITIVE ART IN EGYPT.

first declared itself in the royal workshops, before it was possible

to impress it on the whole of the recently acquired and unified

kingdom. Long afterwards, on the private stelae, one can detect

the same opposition to official Pharaonic art.^ As a t}'pical

example I will quote a stela in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford^

of a person named Hekenen. A priest of the double, mentioned on

the stela, bears the name of Persci/, a name which occurs on

inscriptions of the fourth and fifth dynasties^ (Fig. 193).

The same rivalry which we have observed in the case of

carving in relief as existing between the official Pharaonic art

Fig. 193.—biELA of Hekknen.


and that of private individuals, may also be found in the

statuary, at least during the three first dynasties. The exca-

vations at Hierakonpolis have furnished us with proofs of this.

Two statues were found representing a man, one knee on the

ground, and of a somewhat strange type. Of these one only

proved po-ssible to preserve, and it is now at the Cairo Museum.

' See ScHWEiNFURTH, J)ic ncucstcn Grahcrfundeii hi Obcr-Ac;j;yptcii i/iid

die Stellitiig dcr noch lebenden IViistcn-Sliiiiime zii der all(igyj>iischcn

Bcvolkcrung, in the Vcrhattdlungcn der berliner anthropologischcii Gescllschaft,

1898, pp. 184, 185, where the author speaks of Bauernkunst and ''Herrenkunst.'

^ De RouGt , Rcchcrches sur Ics 7)wimmcnts qu'on pent attribiccr aiix six

premieres dynasties dc Mancthon, p. 53. Lefsius, Dcnkmiiler, ii. 83. Makiette,

Les mastabas de VAncien Empire, pp. 299-301, Paris, 1899.




The man wears his hair cut short above the shoulders. This

mode of cutting the hair and the short beard resembles, as

Petrie remarks,^ the type of one of the standard bearers on the

great palette of Nar-Mer. The clothing consists of a girdle to

which narrow strips are attached, which hang down between the

Fig. 194.— Limicsto.ne Statue of a Libyan.

Cairo IMuscum.

legs, a costume which is found on the palette of Nar-Mer and

on the bas-reliefs of the Ancient Empire.-'' Professor Schweinfurth

draws special attention to the shortness of the neck, which appears

to agree exactly with the length of the head, and the considerable

'

In OU113ELL, Hicfakonpolis, i. p. 6.

-

Capart, La fete defrapper Ics Anoii^ in the Rev itc de lliistoirc des rclig/ons,

xliii. 1901, p. 255.




development of the lips.^P^rom the ethnographic point of v'iew,

Dr. Petrie considers that the type presents elements other than

Libyan and Negro (Fig. 194).'-

This is not the case with another crouching statue, of which

the head only could be preserved (Fig. 195), where the same

scholar definitely recognizes the mixed Negro-Libyan type. The short half curly hair and the thick projecting lips clearly

come from the Negro ;while the long face and well-formed

nose are due to Libyan blood.^ The eyes are inlaid, and no

Fig.195.

—Head of a Libyan in Limestone.


trace of colour can be distinguished. Dr. Petrie records that

while travelling he met an individual who was absolutely iden-

tical in type. He learnt from him that he was from America,

obviously from the Southern States, and of Negro-European

origin.

A comparison should be made between the first of these

^

ScHWEiNFURTH, /oc. ctt. p. 1 84, and fig. pp. 182, 183.

^QuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i. pi. ii. p. 6

;ii.

j) .i. and p. 35.

' In OuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i. p. 6, andpi. v. vi.

;ii. p. 36.

*Petrie, The Rise and Develop77ient of Egyptian Art, in tlie Journal oj

the Society of A7-ts, xlix. 1901, p. 594.





262 PRIMITIVK ART I\ EGYPT.

Fig. 197.—Statui; of a Princess in the Tuiun Museum.



THE KARLIIvST PHARAOXIC MOXUMKXTS. 263

Fig. 19S.—Statue in the Brussels Museum,




the court. ... In order to appreciate the relative antiquity of

any object it is necessary to take into consideration the locaUty

from whence it comes, and the importance of that locaHty at the

time when the object was made. Memphis, or the town which

preceded it,was very obscure before the fourth dynasty, and

royalty did not yet reside there. One must not, therefore, be

astonished if its monuments are ruder than those discovered in

cities frequented by the Pharoah—Thinis-Abydos or at Kom el-

Ahmar, for example—and it would be a mistake, in comparing

them with the carefully executed bas-reliefs of Khasakhmui,

or with the palettes dedicated by Besh, to conclude from their

inferiority that they are far older than the latter objects. Our

statue is a provincial work, and perhaps its importance lies in

the fact that it does not so much indicate a remote antiquity

as that it is a proof of the want of skill of the artists who

were then living in the Memphite nome ^

(Fig. 196).

It is impossible better to express the dualism that existed

betweenthese rival arts

;the official

art,

the art

ofthe

masters,and the art of the subject, the peasant art, to adopt Schweinfurth's

expression. The peasant art is the logical sequence of the art

of the primitive population, and at the commencement of the

Egyptian occupation, it was not radically transformed except

in the immediate neighbourhood of the residence of the ruler.

A similar phenomenon might be proved in the history of the

rise of Theban art, when the political power was moved to

Thebes, from Memphis. Quite recently. Professor Spiegelberg of

Strasbourg has published an excellent history of Egyptian art,

where he explains its successive developments by the constant

struggle between popular art (Volkskunst) and the art of the

court (Hoflûnst), between profane art (Profankunst) and

religions art (Religosckunst).

J

Maspero, text of Le miisee egypticn, i. p. 13. The statue is figured on

pi. xiii. See also De Morgan, Rechcrches sur Ics orfgincs, ii. pi. iv. and

pp. 253, 254.-

Spiegelberg, Gescliiclitc dcr ngyptisclicn Kiinst im Alniss dargcstcllt,

Leipzic, 1903. I include under the name of profane art

artistic works created

by the popular religion, following the beliefs of primitive times, in opposition to

the official religion of tlie Pharaonic invaders.



Fig. 199.—Statuh: ok Nesa, in tiii; Lulvki:



266 PRIMITIVK ART IX EGYPT.

With the statue of the Cairo Museum, there must be con-

nected a whole series of sculptures, to which

I have alluded at the commencement of this

book. They are the archaic statues preserved

in various European museums—Bologna,

London, Berlin, Turin, Le}'den, Brussels,

Naples, and Paris. These lead us on by

gradual gradations to the realistic master-

pieces of the fourth and fifth dynasties.^

We givevarious

specimensof

themin

Figs. 19; to 199.

There is another object which should be

mentioned, a stone door

sill or socket found at

Hierakonpolis, decorated

with a human head. Here

the artist evidenth' in-

tended to represent a

captive crushed b}- the

weight of the door.-

W e have

now seen t h e

sculpture of the

first d)'nasties

with the

excep-tion of the

Fig. 2CO.—St.\tue of

Khasakhmli.

Aslimolean Museum,

Oxford.

official works of art. Up to

the present the royal statues

are onl}' know to us by

two specimens. They are

sufficient, however, to show

the wide difference that

existed between them and

Fig. 201.— Statue of Khasakhmui.

Ashiiiolcaii Museum, O.xford.

'

Capart, I\ccjicil de i/ionm/iciils cgypticiis, notice of plates ii. and iii.

Steindorff, Uebe7' ai'chtiische dgyptlsche Statitcn, in tlie Archiiologischer

Anzciger, in the Jahrlnirli dcs kaiscrlich deutsclicn arckaologisclicn I/istit/it, \iii.

1893, pp. 64-66.-

OuiBELL, Hierakonpolis, i.]> .

iii. and p. 6;

ii. p. 36.



THE EARLIEST PHARAOxNIC MOxXUMENTS. 267

the private sculptures—a difference analogous to that which we

have already established in the carving in relief. These two

statues were discovered at Hierakonpolis, and bear the name

of a king who appears to have reigned towards the end of

the second dynasty or the beginning

of the third' (Figs. 200, 201, 202).

M. Weill has given a very precise

description of these statues. . . .

Two small seated statues, of strange

workmanship,so delicate as to be

almost fragile, exceedingly unlike the

somewhat massive statuary of the

early part of the Ancient Empire.

The first statue, of limestone, is

broken, and the upper part of the

body is missing ;the head, part of

which has been recovered, is remark-

ably expressive, young, melancholy,

and serious. Tlic attitude and

the costume arc the same as

in the other statue, which is

of slate and almost intact. The

body is draped in a flowing

garment widely open on the

chest, with sleeves which cover

the arms to the wrist. . . . The

left arm is folded over the bod)', and the right hand rests on

the knee and holds the end of a sceptre. On the head is the

great white crown. . . . The bases of both statues are surrounded

with unconventional designs engraved with the point, which

represent the routing of multitudes and figures of men over-

thrown in singularly unexpected and varied positions. The

'

Maspero, Guide to the Cairo Museimi, English ed. 1904, p. 244. Navillic,

Les plus anciens juoiiumeiits egypt/ens, iii. loc. cit. x.xv. 1903, pp. 237-239, of tlie

third dynasty. Iêtkie, History of Egypt, i. 5th ed. 1903, pp. 27, 27*, 28, 28*

29, who distingnislies two kint^s, tlie eighth and ninth of tht- scrontl dynasty.

QuuiELL, Hierakonpolis, i. p. 5 : After tlie first dynasty, and probably not before

the middle of the second

Fig. 202.—Head of the Statue of

Khas.\kiimui.





numbers of the slain enemies are also recorded on these small

tablets, and in front of the feet of the statue there is the

cartouche of the Horus Khasakhmui. Ît has been remarked

that the eye is painted with lines of colour continuing to the

ear, a fashion which, according

to a theory published some

years ago by Borchardt, did

not make its appearance until

the sixth dynasty.- These

painted lines, which are obviousin the photograph taken at

the time of the discovery,

have now left only a few

traces on the surface of the

stone, a fact which may be

ascertained by examining the

Figs, 200, 20 1 and 202, taken

from the original at the Ash-

.^„,â ^^^^^^^1 molean Museum. It is prob-

.'^^^ -v^^^^Bp^T^HîÎq î-^^^ ^y^ attentive study

of the royal statues of Hiera-

konpolis would throw fresh

light on the question of the

age of the royal statues of

the fourthdynasty

at the

Cairo Museum, and that this

study would to some extent

modifv the conclusions arrived

at by several scholars.^

We have already observed the frequent occurrence of figures

of animals in the primitive period, and with what perfection

'

Weill, HieraconpoUs et les origincs dc Vfigypt, in the Revue archeologique,

1902, ii. p. 123. OuuiELL, Hicrakonpolis^ i. pi.xxxix.-xli. and p. 11

;ii. p. 44.

-

BoRCUARDT, Uebcr das Alter dcs Sphinx bci Gisc/i, in tlie Silzungsbcrichte

der koniglich preussischen Akadc7)iic dcr Wissenschaften zu Berlin, xxxv. 1897,

pp. 752-755-'Borchardt, Uebcr das Alter der Chefrenstatnen, in the Zcitschrift fiir

dgyptische Sprache t(nd Altcrthumskunde, xxxvi. 1898, pp. 1-18.

Fig. 203.—-Pottery Figure of

A Lion.

Asbmolean Museum, Oxford.



IS

u





THE EARLIEST PHARAOXIC MONUMENTS. 271

Pyramids were built. The Colossi of Gizch appeared to inter-

pose their bulk between the plane of the world in which we

live and the remote distance of bygone ages. . . .

The pick of

the excavator has suddenly made a breach in the obstacle which

hid the primitive dynasties from our view.^ That which only

a short time ago appeared to be the starting point of a world,

may now be regarded with certainty as the result of the

evolution of an entire civilization.

'

Maspero, Lcs premiers tetnps de Fliistoire d'Egyptc d'apres les dccoiivertes

rccentes,in The

Lotus, Alexandria,No.

4, July 1901, p. 185.



2/2

CHAPTER YI.

DANCING, MUSIC, AND POETRY.

INthe origin of the arts of repose—decoration, painting, and

sculpture—we have found a utiHtarian purpose which was

generally magical. A stud)' of the arts of movement—dancing,

music, and poetry—leads us to the same result. We must not

afford ourselves the long delay necessary to a complete and

detailed demonstration of this;

it will be sufficient to quote some

typical instances.

An old historian of Madagascar informs us that,

While the

men are at the wars, and until their return, the women and girls

cease not day and night to dance, and neither lie down nor

take food in their own houses. . . . The}- believe that by dancing

they impart strength, courage, and good fortune to their husbands.

This custom they observe very religiously.^

Similarly, among the Thompson River Indians of British

Columbia, while the men were on the war-path the women per-

formed dances at frequent intervals. Those dances were believed

to secure the success of the expedition. The dancers flourished

their knives, threw long sharp-pointed sticks forward, or drew

sticks with hooked ends repeatedly backward and forward.

Throwing the sticks forward was symbolic of piercing or fighting

off the supposed enemy, and drawing them back was symbolic of

drawing their men from danger. The stick with this hooked

end was the onesupposed

to be the bestadapted

for the latter

purpose. The women always pointed their weapons toward the

enemies' country.-

'

Frazer, The Golden Bough, i. p. 31.-

n>. i. addenda p. 465.






musicians. Each performer, regardless of the discordance, blows

rings, bangs, or rattles on his own account, interpreting a very

short air which forms the dominant note in this direful din.^

Fetish men are often very skilled musicians.

There is no doubt that both music and dancing very rapidly

acquired a pleasurable use in addition to their utilitarian and

magical purposes. The various examples which have just been

quoted show that there is no doubt as to the magical character

of these arts in their origin, although in the special instances

we meet with it may not be possible to determine precisely

what is the object of the musicians or dancers.

Under various aspects we have already had occasion to refer

to dancing scenes. I may mention first the Tukh statuette repro-

duced on Fig. 5, where the dancer has both arms raised above

her head. The decorated vases have shown us figures of women

in the same position (Figs. 91, 94). They arc sometimes accom-

panied by men who appear to beat time to the dance by clapping

pieces of wood together—a species of castanettes (Pig. 92). Twofemale figures from the painted tomb of Hierakonpolis, also, by

the position of their arms, suggest these dancers (Fig. 162).

At funerals the dancing men and women were employed

to execute dances, accompanied by lamentations;and if, with

Professor Erman, we examine the representations in the tombs

of the Ancient Empire, we shall at once recognize that this custom

persisted longafter the rise of Pharaonic

Egypt.-The terracotta

figures discovered in the Greek tombs show the same funerary

dancers and mourners, and the appearance of this type in Egypt

in the earliest times must certainly be of a nature to modify

to an important extent the conclusions in a recent work by

M. Collignon.^

' Notes a7ialyti(]ues stir Ics collcctiofis ethnographiqucs du Musee du Congo

{Annalcs du Musec duCongo, Ethnographie

et

anthropologie,

Serieiii.),

vol. i.

fasc. i. pp. 17, 18.

-

Erm.\n, Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 245 et seq. Dancers were almost

always present at the Feast of Eternity—that is, the feast held in Iiononr of the

deceased. —P. 246.

^CoLLiGNON, De Vorigine du type dcs plcureuses dans I'art grcc, in tiie

Revue dcs etudes grecques, xvi. 1903, pp. 299-322.



DANCING, MUSIC, AND POETRY. 275

On the earliest monuments of Pharaonic Egypt wc have

observed several instances of these religious dancers. They are

to be seen on the Hierakonpolis maces (Figs. 186 to 188) and

on the plaque of King Den (Fig. 1 90), to which the monuments

of the Pharaonic age afford numerous parallels.

Without waiting to describe the scenes of funerary dancing

in the bas-reliefs of Pharaonic Egypt, it appears to me that

two of these representations should for a moment hold our

attention.

In the tomb of Anta,at

Deshasheh,^ thereis

a series of mendancing, holding in their hands short curved sticks, which end

Fig. 205.—Dancers from the To.mb of Anta, at Deshasheh.

in gazelles' heads (Fig. 205}. Dr. Petrie- has compared with

these accessories of dancing certain fragments of decorated ivory

found at Hierakonpolis, two specimens of which are shown in

P ig. 109 among remains of personal property and furniture.

A fact which lends very special interest to this scene is that the

Pyramid texts mention the people of the Tuat,^ ^

C^-The determination of this name is composed of an arm holding

an instrument which terminates in the head of a gazelle. We

may, therefore, questionwhether the dancers of

Deshasheh werenot also people of the Tuat, and whether in the Egyptian period

'

Petrie, Deshashehy pi. xii. and p. 8.

^ In OuiBELL, Hiera/cotipolis, i. p. 7.

3Maspero, La Pyramidc dtt roi Pcpl I., in the Rcciicil de Iravutx, vii. 1SS6,

pp. 148, 1. 245.




the task of performing funerary dances was not reserved for

them. The people of the Tuat are the inhabitants of the Tuat,

one of the underworlds of Egyptian mythology^

;and in that

case we should be witnessing the dance of inhabitants of that

mysterious region. In the Tuat we are inclined to recognize the

modern name of the oasis of Tuat, which is situated, it is true,

at the north-west extremity of the African continent. This is

not a unique example of tribes now extremely remote, who in

ancient times were in close contact with Egypt. According

to M. Lefebure,-several tribes

appearto have left traces

of

migrations no less considerable (Macae and Maxyes, Berbers and

Barabras, Numidians and Nobadae, etc.).

The conclusion to be drawn from these remarks would be

that the region of the dead—the Tuat—may originally have been

a real and actual country, and this result would fit perfectly with

M. Maspero's researches as to the Great Oasis, the field of reeds,

and those of M. de Chassinat on the Isle of the Double and

the Land of the Manes.^ We must remember that as late as

the eighteenth dynasty Libyan dances were still portrayed at

Deir el Bahari.^

'I find in a recent work a strange piece of information, related by a traveller,

which had not hitherto been given to the world, and which therefore may be of

some importance. Writing of his visit to the royal tombs at Thebes, the author

says : Tous ces corridors sont remplis de peintures, de reliefs, qui representent

ce qu'il y a dans les livres de Thades{s/c),

dans le Touat, ou, si vous le voulez,

plus simplement dans I'enfer. La premiere fois que j'ai oui parler de Touat,cetait a Tunis

; je voyais un Touareg dont la presence causait un veritable

evenement, meme parmi les indigenes. Sa figure, completement voilee par une

etoffe noire tres epaisse, sa mise, son manteau d'un brun ionce causaient un vrai

rassemblement. Ouelqu'un du pays me dit :

'

C'est un Touareg, c'est un diable

vomi par I'enfer dont il porte le nom : Touareg vient de Touat, qui veut dire

enfer.' Je conte cette anecdote qui m'a paru curieuse, sans me faire I'editeur

responsable de cette 6tymologie, et je reviens aux Egyptiens.—Baron du Gabe,

iLclicUes du Levant, Impressions d'n>i Franrais, Paris, 1902, p. 84.'•* Private letter of January 25th, 1903.•'

Maspero, G.,

Le notn

antiquede la Grande Oasis et les idees

qui s'yratiaclicnt, in the iLtndes de niythologie et d'archeologie egyptie7ines, ii. [Biblio-

tlieqiie cgyptologique, ii.), pp. 421-427. Iês Hypogces royauxde T/iches, ih. p. 12

ctseq. Chassinat, Ca et Id, § iii. in tiie Recueil de travaux relatifs a laphilologie

et a rarchcologic cgypdicnnes et assyrienjics, xvii. 1895, p. 53.•

Naville, Tlie Tejuple of Deir el Bahari, iv. pi. xc. and p. 2 :

It is curious

that in other festivals the dancing is done also by these Africans, the Tamahu, as if






a hole is pierced ;the two arms, now broken off near the body,

were outstretched, and it is probable that the iigure was that of

a flutist. This may be compared to the stone figures of the

Greek islands belonging to the Aegean period, which represent

a flutist and a harpist.^

If the funerary purpose of these musical instruments v/ere

questioned, a painted scene at Beni Hasan

might be quoted in

proof (Fig. 207). On the side of the stela, which is in the form

of a door representing the entrance intended for the use of the soul,

various people are bringing offerings. The two lower registers

are occupied by women engaged in a musical performance. Two

play on the harp, while three others clap their hands in cadence

as an accompaniment to the singing ; behind, a woman is shaking

a sistrum, while another is using a strange instrument. This is

certainly intended for songs and music of a religious character,

performed in honour of the deceased. The presence of the

sistrum, an instrument used at ceremonies of the cult in order

to drive away evil spirits, may suggest a similar use for the other

instrument which accompanies it. It consists of a kind of small

board attached to a stem, which revolves in a handle held by the

performer. It must have produced a kind of deep buzzing sound.

In many countries an instrument is in use which is of the

same character as our Egyptian apparatus. This is what English

ethnologists term a bull-roarer, and Germans a

Schwirrholz,

terms which have no exact French equivalent. The Schwirrholz,

says Professor Schurtz,^ consists of a long, thinnish piece of wood,

1 Perrot & Chipiez, Histoirede Vart dans Vantiqidte, vi., La Greceprimitive,

Vart mycenien, pp. 760-762, andfig. 357, 358. Koehler, Prcehistorisches von den

griechisclicn Jnscln, in the Mittheilnngen der kaise?iich deiiischen archeologischen

Instiiitts, AtJioiische Abteihitig, ix. 1884, pp. 156-162, and pi. vi. See a stone

sarcophagus with painted scenes, discovered by Paribeni, near Phsestus, in

Kako, Altkreiische Kiiltslatte7t, in the Archivfiir Reiigionwissenschaften, vii. 1904,

p. 130, note I.'' Hinter dem Opfertisch steht ein Flotenbliiser. —(Information

communicated by M. J.de Mot.) Here is already the origin of the paintings of

the Attic lecythi, where harpists and flutists are represented in their funerary

ceremonies. See Pottier, Ktude siir les lecythes blattcs attiques a repi'esentations

fimcraires {Bib/iothrque des ecoles fraiiâises d'Athencs ct de Rome, fasc. xxx.),

Paris, 1883, specially pp. 73, 74.

^Betii Hasatt, i. pi.

xii.;

iv.])1.

xvi. and p. 5.

•''

ScHURTZ, Urgeschichte der Ktclltir, Leipzic, 1900, p. 50.




which is either shaped like a fish, or decorated ,with engraved

or painted ornaments. A string is fastened to the end, by

means of which it is whirled round in the air, producing a

buzzing noise.

We must add that the object thus described is never

Fig. 207.—Musical Instruments, from a Painting at Bkm PIasan.

employed as an amusement, or to respond to any musical require-

ments. The tribes who use it consider there is something super-

natural in the booming it produces, and it is principally used

in the feasts for the dead, or in other ceremonies to wliich

only the initiated have access.




I am very much inclined to see in the instrument depicted

at 13eni Hasan a musical instrument analogous to this bull-

roarer. ^

We must also briefly notice the use of music, in general, for

accompanying and regulating work done in combination. At the

present day we still preserve this use for stimulating and

regulating the march of soldiers. The Greeks made use of it

to give a rhythmic swing to collective work. Also in reference

to this point we can cite a group in terracotta from Boeotia,

published by M. Pottier, who refers to the careful studies of

Biicher on work and rhythm.

^

As an accompaniment to dancing and music the human voice

is forced to submit to the obligations of rhythm. Thus the

incantations or funerary songs of primitive people, habitually

characterized by repetitions and assonances, are actual poems.

The meaning of these is generally extremely obscure, and the

various songs of savages which have been noted are not of a

nature to give us a very high idea of the poetic instinct of

primitive people. On the inscribed monuments of the Ancient

Empire there are several songs which vary only slightly from

these rudimentary poetic efforts.

It would be hazardous to attempt to assign a prehistoric

origin to these Egyptian songs. Nevertheless, M. Maspero has

translated from the Pyramid texts several incantations against

serpents, to which he does not hesitate to assign a very remote

antiquity. He thus writes on the subject : The number of

prayers and of formulae addressed to venomous animals show

with what terror the serpent and the scorpion inspired the

Egyptian. Many of them are written in a language and with

combinations of signs which do not appear to ha\ c been com-

pletely understood, even by the scribes under Unas and the

two Pepi. Eor my part, I believe that they belong to the most

•

CAPART, J., Sur deux livres rccents rclattfs aiix anclcns hieroglypJies et

aux ancienties representations figurees de r£gypte, in tlie Bulletin de la Societe

d'anthropologic de Bruxellcs, xx. igoi-2, Brussels, 1903, p. xiii.

*Pottier, Les Sujets de genre dans les figurines archaicjues de terre cuite,

in the Biclletin de correspondance hellenique^ xxiv. 1900, pp. 519, 520, and pi. ix.

BiJCHER, Arbeit uiid Rythmus, 2nd ed. Leipzic, 1899.




ancient ritual, and that they date back to a time before the

reign

of Mena. Some of them are evidently cadenced, and were

probably originally the songs of snake-charmers;

all of them

may be included, more or less, in the class of what with us is

called gibberish. 'The serpent entwines; it is the serpent that

twines round the calf. Oh, thou that art on thyself, who issuest

from the womb of the earth;

thou hast devoured that which

Cometh forth from thee; serpent that descendest, lie down

castrated Fall, slave ' Here is one of the most comprehensible,

from which the others may be judged

^

We have now studied in succession all the classes of objects

to which ethnologists have attributed an artistic character. We

have, therefore, arrived at the conclusion of our study, and it

only remains for us briefly to sum up the general results which

appear to us to flow from it.

'

Maspero, Premier rapport a Vlnstitut egypticn sur Ics fouillcs execiitees

enJtLgypte

dc iS8i aiSSj,

in the Etudes de

mythologie

et d'archcologic

egyptietmes, i. {Bibliotheque cgyptologiquc, i.), pp. 153, 154. La religion

egyptienne d'apres les pyra?)iidcs de la V^ et de la VP dynastic, in the Revue

de lliistoire des religions, xii. 1885, pp. 125, 126, where the same passage is

reproduced word for word.



282

CHAPTER VII.

CONCLUSIONS.

IN attemptingto draw

generalconclusions from the

foregoing

study, it appears to me that there are two different orders

of ideas which we must take into consideration. In the first

place, general ethnology; in the second—and this it is which

has more special interest for us—the origin of Egyptian art as

we find it at the commencement of the fourth dynasty.

From the ethnological point of view the results of the dis-

coveries of the last few years appear to show that the artistic

manifestations of primitive Egypt are closely allied with those

of other nations which have been observed at an equal stage

of civilization. In applying to the primitive inhabitants of the

Nile Valley the theories and methods of M. Grosse, in Les Debuts

de I'Art, there is nothing which forces us to modify these theories

and methods, at any rate in their main outlines. In my opinion

the evidence of these Egyptian discoveries enables us to establish

the utilitarian origin of those manifestations, which we group

together under the term aesthetic. This utilitarian purpose

is in almost every case confused with a religious, or rather

with a magical, purpose. In this respect Egypt affords us most

valuable evidence, as we can follow the development of beliefs,

from their most rudimentary form, until in historical times

they constitute an actual body of doctrine. But at this point

we enter on the domain of special conclusions, and these require

to be exhibited methodically.

At the beginning of this book we showed that at the com-

mencement of the fourth dynasty Egypt heid already developed :

her language, writing, administration, cults, ceremonies, were all

constituted. Another fact which struck us forcibly was the



CONXLUSIOXS. 283

extreme realism of the artistic productions, a realism which brought

us face to face with this alternative;

either art was imported

into Egypt with all the other manifestations of civilized life

— Minerva issuing armed from the brain of Jupiter

— or else it

was the result of a slow and progressive evolution, the work

of several previous centuries. Here it is that the discoveries

of the last few years come to our aid. Is the evidence which

they have brought to light sufficient to allow us to decide on

this question ? The task of replying shall be left to more com-

petent pens ;but I am inclined to think that, before attempting to

give categorical answers to this question, we should await the

result of excavations which arc now being carried on, and which

will certainly occupy several years longer. In the meantime, it

appears to mc that the solution— if it is ever arrived at—will

not be absolutely on one side or the other. We shall probably

distinguish in the formation of art, as of the entire civilization

of the Egyptians, many contributions from different sources.

Nevertheless, without feeling obliged to give numerous biblio-

graphical references, I should like to sketch the problem of

the commencement of art in Egypt, as it presents itself to mymind at the present time. I do not attempt to conceal the

hypothetical character of this outline, which can only be definitely

shown when the origins of Egyptian civilization are completely

known—and, unfortunately, that day is yet far distant.

If we ask anthropologists to what race we should assign the

earliest inhabitants of the valley of the Nile, we shall at the

very conunencement meet with a divergence of opinions and a

multitude of contradictions.

From the pala;olithic period, Egypt—

-or, rather, the cleft in the

north-east plateau of Africa, which later was to be partially filled

by the alluvial deposits of the Nile—was inhabited by tribes of

nomadic huntsmen. The flints which formed their tools have

been found cither simply utilized by them or chipped into shape.It is also possible that some of those rude graffiti found on

the rocks, which afford, as we have already said, such striking

analogies with the graffiti of South Oran, may be their work.

We may well suppose that there was originally a population



284 PRIMITIVE ART I\ EGYPT.

composed of black races, which were insensibly driven back

towards the south by the white races, which from earliest

antiquity were settled on the Mediterranean borders of the

Libyan continent, and who perhaps themselves came from

Southern Europe. They would creep into the valley from the

west or south-west.^

It is to these Libyan people that we should attribute the

brilliant neolithic civilization which the prehistoric cemeteries

have made known to us, and whose productions we have been

studying in detail throughoutthe course of this book.

At different times we have had occasion to insist on the

analogies which it has been thought might be established between

this earliest Egyptian civilization and that of the Libyans of

the historic period. Many of these must have been driven out

of Egypt, and greater numbers, again, must by degrees have

become Egyptianized by the Pharaonic invaders entering from

another country. Under the earliest dynasties we frequently find

the Libyans on the threshold of Egypt, and the earliest kings

at war with them. An account of a journey undertaken at the time

of the sixth dynasty tells us that the Libyans were established in

the oases as far as the neighbourhood of the first cataract of

the Nile. The string of oases extending along the valley of the

Nile to the plateau of Barca remained entirely in the possession

of the Libyans until the time of the twelfth dynasty.

Thisprimitive Libyan

civilization of the Nile Valley was fre-

quently in communication with the Mediterranean civilization,

perhaps actually by means of this route along the oases. The

Greek traditions, referring to the relations of Greece and the

Cyrenaica, need only a passing reference;

at later times, when

the maritime nations attacked Egypt, it was through the Libyan

frontier that they penetrated into the country.

This fact is of itself sufficient to explain the intercourse so

frequently established between the Egyptian primitive civiliza-

tion and the Aegean civilization. The relations between these

countries diminish after the conquest of the valley of the Nile

'

Maspeko, Ilistoire aticienne des peitplcs dc I'Ofient, 6th ed. Paris, 1904,

p. 19.



CONXLUSIONS. 285

by the Pharaohs until the twelfth dynasty, when they again

occur frequently. Mr. Evans has noticed in Crete numerous

facts which confirm this theory.^

These relations also explain the presence in Egypt of the

black incised pottery and the alphabetiform

marks which we

have studied in an earlier chapter.

If we follow—as we have hitherto done— the sequence dates

as originated by Dr. Petrie, we are forced to agree with that

brilliant archaeologist, in recognizing a decadence in the primitive

civilization towards the end of the

prehistoric period.

There does

not seem to mc to be any difficulty in accounting for this.

We see in it the result of the period of trouble and insecurity

which accompanies the arrival of bands of invading foreigners.

Were these invasions sudden, or the result of a gradual infiltra-

tion which continued many years, not to say centuries? Did

these invaders arrive by one single road, or did they come,

some by the Isthmus of Suez, others by the Upper Nile, or, again,

by the desert which separates the Red Sea from the valley

of the Nile? Did the invaders all belong to one and the

same group of nations, or did they form part of groups which

sprang perhaps from one race, but which had been separated

for centuries ? These are questions which cannot be answered

without further evidence than we possess.

I am, however, disposed to believe in frequent invasions

of successive groups, relatively few in number, penetrating into

Egypt by different routes. I have already said in another

publication that I believe, with E. dc Rouge, that there are in

the texts traces of a great tribe called the Ann, which must

have occupied Egypt in the same manner as the Hyksos did

later. It is probably to them that we should attribute those

religious conceptions that had for their centre the town of

Heliopolis, which, according to a tradition related by Plin}', '

was founded by the Arabs.'

Petrie, Methods and Amis in Archaology, London, 1904, p. 163 ct seq.

^Maspero, Histoire ancicnnc dcs peuples de r Orient, p.

16. l^rofessnr

Wiedemann writes: Nach einer spiiten Notiz war Heliopolis eine Griindung dor

Araber, worunter an der betreffenden .Stelle ein semitischer Stamm zii verstehen

ist, dieser Angabe konnte selir wolil ciii riclitiger Kern zu Grande liegen, und




It is probably also to this invasion of the Auii that the

decadence in the primitive industries towards the close of the

prehistoric period should be attributed. These industries did

not, however, entirely disappear, and we have several times

followed their footsteps in historical P^gypt. Further than that,

we have seen that there is nothing which permits us to enter-

tain the belief that there was a hiatus, a sudden cleavage, between

primitive Egypt and Pharaonic Egypt. On the contrary,

analogies between them are so numerous that they have con-

vincedcertain writers that the Pharaonic civilization is

onlya

development of that of primitive Egypt.

I think, rather, that this phenomenon should be attributed

to the actual character of the invasions of the Pharaonic

Egyptians. They are not the movements of nations who destroy

and sweep away from before them a whole civilization, but rather

a slow infiltration of groups of people of a higher civilization

into a population which had already attained a certain degree

of development. A point to be noted with regard to this is the

strange power which the soil of the Nile Valley possesses of

absorbing the invader, a power which has been recognized at

all periods of its history. Foreigners have never changed the

Egyptian population ;it is the country which has always rapidly

transformed its invaders, and has adapted them to its environments.

It is clearly as a result of this principle that the Pharaonic

Egyptians

were irresistibly influenced to continue the traditions

of the primitive people, both in regard to art and in their

religious and funerary beliefs.

At a given moment, however, there is a new element which

appears in Egypt, and this it is which requires explanation.

On several occasions we have insisted on the contrast between

the private and the royal monuments, between the style of the

court and that of the people, between religious and profane art.

We have also shown that the primitive Egyptians were not

acquainted with hieroglyphic writing, and that it suddenly made

Ileliopolis und seiii Soniienkult eiiier vorhistorischen Semiteneiinvanderung in

das Delta ihren Ursprung verdanken. — Orlaiialistischc Littcfaturzeitiing, April,

1904, col. 146, 147.



CONCLUSIONS. 287

its appearance thoroughly formed. This ofificial style attached

to an official religion, and this complicated system of writing,

were brought into the country from without, completely con-

stituted : this we may assert without hesitation. But from what

country were they brought ?

In these final pages I cannot enter into a complicated

controversy, where anthropology and comparative philology

almost alone can intervene. I can merely say that apparently

the Pharaonic invaders came from Asia, perhaps from Yemen,

and that they had common origin >vith the ancient Chaldeans.

This theory would explain the analogies which are established

between the earliest Pharaonic remains and those of Chaldea^—more especially, the use of cylinders, which disappeared fairly

quickly in the Nile Valley. One fact is very clear : the Semites

did not pass direct from Asia to the Nile Valley ; they were

Africanized before penetrating into Egypt, properly so-called.

The clearest proof of this has been obtained by the examina-

tion of the fauna and flora represented in the hieroglyphs,

the African character of which is striking. A glance at the

map of Africa shows where the Semites must for a time have

taken up their abode before penetrating into the valley of the

Nile. The two coasts of the Red Sea, towards the southern

end, resemble each other very considerably both in climate and

in their productions. Any tribes leaving Yemen would naturally

at first occupy a country differing as little as possible from

the regions they had abandoned. A study of the population,

the languages, and the customs of Ethiopia shows the close

affinity which exists between that country and the south of Arabia.

One part of these regions, situated on the coast, appears to

have been designated by the Egyptians of the classical period

by the name of Pniit. The Egyptians, in writing the name of

this country, did not follow it with the determinative sign of

a foreign land ; they called it the

Land of the Gods,and

1 See Heuzey, L., Constntcllon antcrieiirc a Our-\i/ui, notes complc-

mentaircs d'apres les decouvertcs dc M. dc Sarsec, viii., Comparaisoits avcc

ViLgyptc primitive, in the Revue d'assyrioIo<îe ct d'archcologic orientate^ v. 2,

1899, pp. 53-56.—Note contributed by Mr. Offord.




derived from it the origin of a certain number of their most

ancient divinities. Also, the Egyptians at all times maintained

pacific relations with this country, and when its inhabitants

are represented on the monuments, they appear as a mixed

race : the superior race is similar to the Egyptians in physical

type, beard, and costume, while the other portion shows the same

type crossed with negro blood. The earliest proof of the rela-

tions between Egypt and Punt is furnished by a representation

of an inhabitant of Punt in the tomb of a son of Cheops of

the fourth dynasty.^

A list of gifts to the temples, drawn up towards the end of

the fifth dynasty, mentions enormous quantities of objects brought

from Punt.

The journey from Punt to Egypt was very far from easy.

By road it was necessary to traverse the desert regions of

Upper Nubia, a formidable journey even at the present day.

By water it was necessary, first of all, to reach the Nile by

meansof one of the

valleyswhich

extend from the Red Seato the river. In historic times the route most frequently chosen

was the Wady Hammamat, which unites Kosseir and Koptos.

Now Koptos is precisely the site where Professor Flinders Petrie

discovered what he considers to be the earliest remains that can

be attributed to the dynastic race—the statues of Min. This

route is long and dangerous. It could not have been accessible

to hordes of human beings attempting a tumultuous invasion

into the midst of tribes already civilized. It is this consideration

which induces me to represent the arrival in Egypt of the

dynastic Egyptians as a slow and progressive infiltration.

To return for a moment to our former subject, the Egyptian

Semites had made a long stay on African soil before dis-

covering and following the route to the valley of the Nile. There,

in the country occupied by the Gallas, the Abyssinians, and the

Somalis, we

mayone

day hopeto discover remains which will

reveal the history of the development of Pharaonic civilization

in the earliest periods of its evolution.

The invaders brought with them hieroglyphic writing illus-

'

Lepsius, Dcnkmciler, ii. 23.



CONCLUSIONS. 289

trating the language spoken by them. They also brought religious

conceptions which were already extremely developed, and which

constituted the basis of the official religion of Egypt at the

classical epoch. Their funerary beliefs differed from those of

the autochthones, so far, at least, as the destiny of the deceased

kings was concerned;and perhaps wc may here find the ex-

planation of the absence in the royal tombs of representations

similar to those that cover the walls of mastabas, and of which

we have seen the prototype in a prehistoric tomb.

Egyptian ritual is constituted in the same manner. Repre-

sentations, such as those on the palette of Nar-Mer and on the

plaques of the royal tombs of Abydos, show how far this ritual

already resembled that of later times. Connected with these

religious and funerary beliefs and with this ritual we find a

system of art which is already considerably advanced, and even

to some extent already hieratic and fixed. This is the official

art, which contrasts in such a striking manner with the naturalistic

art of the primitive people.

What was the result of the contact of these two forms of

art, arrived at such different stages of development and inspired

with such contradictory tendencies ? The answer to this question

we have already indicated, and it is needless for us to insist

greatly on this point. The meeting of these two systems produced

that duality of art of which Professor Spiegelberg has again

reminded us in so clear a manner by his recent publication.'

We shall find that the more widely the central power exerted its

influence the more is the official art in favour. We can understand

how it came about that under the Ancient Empire at the com-

mencement of the fourth dynasty the private art is still so

free and naturalistic, and in some measure we shall even be

prepared to justify the remark made by Nestor I'Hote, quoted

in the earlier pages of this book: We know Egyptian art only

in its decadence.

'

Spiegelberg, Geschichte dcr dgyptischcn Kunst im Abriss dargestellt,

Leipsic, 1903. See Wiedemann, Winckebnann s Vrtheil iiher die agyptische

Kintst und die Profankiinst der alien Argypier, in tlie JaJirhiidicr dcs Vcreiiis

TonAltcrtliiimsfrciindcn im Rlicinlandc, Ix.xvii. 1884 (separate reprint, p. y

et s€(/.).

19




Our conclusions arc as follows : Egyptian art, as it is revealed

to us at the commencement of the fourth dynasty, appears to

be composed of various elements. Primitive art, which had its

birth in the north of Africa and developed during the course

of centuries, was only to a small extent affected by foreign

influences (Aegean and Anu?).

This art, the principal object

of which was utilitarian and magical, should by virtue of this

very object represent nature with all possible fidelity. The

funerary ideas which it was intended to serve may be found in

their full development in the funerary beliefs of the Egyptian

Empire, entirely dominated by the great formula of imitati\'e

magic, Like acts on like.

The second element is the art of the Pharaonic Egyptians,

of which the earliest stages of evolution still completely elude us.

When it reaches Egypt it is thoroughly fixed, and serves to

express religious conceptions of advanced development, which

survive in PLgypt, with only very slight modifications, until the

close of the Pharaonic period.

The struggle between these two forms of art, and the reciprocal

influence that they exerted upon each other, are similar to those

we establish between the popular religion and the official religion,

between official language and vulgar idioms. The story of the

struggles in these various domains reaches back to the earliest

period of the Ancient Empire.

I do notattempt

to conceal the fact that these last

pagesbear a decisive character very far removed from the uncertainties

which in reality are present in crowds, and I have hesitated

greatly before allowing them to assume such a character. I hope

I may not incur severe blame, after having brought some modest

materials to the foot of the scaffolding, if I have indulged for

a moment in a dream of a splendid palace which may one day

arise, and of which perhaps they may form a part when utilized

by an architect of genius.



INDEX

PAGE

Aahmes 27

Abadiych . . .5, 121, 127, 128

Abydos 6, 19, 38, 42, 49, 57, 58, 68

100, loi, no, 112, 117, 133, 134, 135

136, 144, 146, 149, 153, 159, 160, 169

173, 176, 180, 182, 183, J 85, 186, 188

190, 192, 193, 199, 200, 209, 212, 221

242, 248, 251, 256, 257, 270, 289

Abyssitiiaiis . . . 162, 288

Accessories of dancing . . 275

Administration . . . i, 282

Aegean civilization and art 156, 165

284, 290

„ Islajtds . . .

.164„ period .... 278

Ae<{eo-Cretaii 146, 212

(See Greek.)

Aftica. . 4, 40, 162, 248, 273, 287

„ British Central . . 198

Agathodemon . . . .134Aha-Menes (see Menes).Alabaster . 93, 96, 100, 174, 1S2, 199

Alawanyeh .

AleutiansAlexandria .

Algeria

Alligator

Aloes .

Alphabet, Libyan

• 155

14

. 210

30. 194

. 60

116, 119, 218

• 149

„ linear, Creto-Aegean . 146

„ Phcenician origin . . 147

,, primitive . . 145 Alphabetiform characters I45etseq.

AMf:LINEAU . 6, 105, 134, 180, 255

Amenophis I

IV

America

Atnericati, Soiitli, oC

European parentage

Negro-

32

32

154

260

Amon-Ra

A??iorgos

PAGE

• 32

. . . . 156

Amulets . 49, 53, 73, 85, 192, 193

Ancient Empire . 2, 39, 42, 52, 53, 55

56, 58, 115, 144, 160, 169,200,205,219

220, 237, 257, 259, 267, 277, 280, 289

Andaman Islands . . I4> 52

Animals5, 21, 41, 52, 69, 71, 99,

102

no, 112, n7, 126, 129, 136, 138, 140

142, 152, 176 et seq., 202, 203, 210

215, 216, 218, 219, 224, 229, 230, 234

236, 237, 268

Animals, aquatic.... 209

„ domestic . . .182,,

edible .... 216

„ fantastic 69, 136, 230, 232

,,indeterminate 82, no, 140

,, pet .... 220

,,sacred .... 185

,, with long necks 132, 136, 23c

(See Feline animals.)

Anklets . . . . 49, 50, 51

Ansairiych . . . . .129

Anta 275

Antelope 21, 48, 69, 71, 72, 78, 79, 1 10

117, n9, 140, 153, 189, 212, 232, 236

Antelope (Addax)

,, (Bubalis)

AnuAnubis or Apuat

Apes .

Arab .

Archangel .

Architecture

Argar .

Arms of chairs

Art

,,decorative

,,otlicia .

,, of movement

153

257, 285, 290

220, 254

185 et seq., 220

12,46, 285

• 154

. 64

. 185

136

• 9.65

59 et seq., 138

258, 264, 2S7, 289

. 16, 272 eti;e(].

291



292 INDE}^.

Art of repose

of the Court.

,,masters

,, peasants

,, subjects

ornamental .

plastic .

,,animated

„ free .

popular .

profane .

religious

Theban

Arufitas

Ashmolean Museum (see Oxfoj'd).

Asia . . .4. 142, 143' 248,

„ Minor .

Asparagus retroflexus

Ass

264,

59 et

264,

264, 286,

264,

Assuan

Assyria

Aten .

Aikefts

Alias .

AtumAustralia

Australians,

Central

14, 215,

12, 21, 205,

PAGE

16

286

264

264

264

seq.

16

17

17

286

289

286

264

216

287

148

115

237

. 106

• 236

• 32

177. 181

. 189

. 220

216

218

216

190,

Balias .

Bfiraby-as

Barbarian, v

(See CaptBarca .

Bari .

Bark, funerary

,, magical

,, sacred

Basalt .

Basket maker

25, 99, 163, 178, 179

. 276

anquished . . 277

ives, Enemy, Prisoners.)

. 284

. 121

. 217

. 217

210, 217

• 93

62, 64

work 45, 64, 98, 104, 105 et seq.

109, 134, 138, 139

Baskets

,,for milk .

„ for paint

Bayet.

Beads . 47, 49, 51, 83,

Bear ....

64, 105, 191. 115

. 28

. 160

99, 167, 174

190, 193, 230

. 189

Page

Beard . 43 et seq., 155, 157, 196, 246

259,,

covered in sign of mourning 45

,, covering for . . 44, 157

Beds 134, 220

Beer, made with bread . .174Benedite .... 233, 239

Beni Hasan. . 184,247,278,280

Berbers . . . .106, 276

Berens, Randolph 177, 182, 190, 192

Berger 147

Berlin5, 33, 71, 77, 94, 99, 122, 151

153, 157, 160, 161, 168, 174, 266

Besh 264

Betis ...... 39

Beyrout 248

Birds 41, 73, 76, 80, 81, 90, loi, iii

112, 119, 121, 122, 129, 140, 153, 190

et seq., 211, 222, 229, 239, 248

Birds of prey .... 239

,, representing deceased per-

sons . . . .217

,, sacred

....254

Black 213

(See Blue-black.)

Blackish })aste . . .']'], 251

Blocks of stone, roughed out . 185

Blue-black .... 206, 213

Boat or bark 69, 99, 120, 122, 132, 135

140, 154, 174, 199 et seq., 202, 205

207 et seq., 217, 218, 220, 228, 250

254

(See Ship, Vessel.)

BOECKH

Boeotia

Bolof .

Bologna

Bone .

B07lgOCS

I5oomerangs

BORCHARDT

Bosnia

Botocudos .

BOULE.

Bow

Boxes, decorated

Bracelets

Brasscmpny

Breccia

• 17

. 280

. 162

. 5. 35. 266

49, 76, 167, 190

. 50

119, 140

142, 268

• 149

14- 54. 163

100, 211, 230, 273

pottery . 131, 134

38, 49. 50. 5 1

. 162

93. 114 219



INDEX. 293

PAGE

Bricks...... 206

British Museum56. 93,

122,131, 153

168, 207, 229, 230, 235, 255

• 35rocatel

Bronze

Brugsch

flriissels

Bubasiis

BiJCHER

Bucrania

(Sec Bulls

Budge

Buffoons

heads.)

194, 195

. 17

5, 176, I S3, 263

. 218

.280

• ^33. 195

17, 226, 254

220

Bull 95, 134, 188, 193, 232, 237, 243

246, 254

Bull-roarer . . . 273, 278 et seq.

Bulls' heads 73, 75, 76, 95, 153, 194, 195

(See Bucrania.)

Bulls heads, double . . -195BUNSEN

Bt/slimeu

Bustard

Butmir

Butterfly

17

14, 48, 161, 205, 273

. 21 1

. 164

. 128

Cabins .... 207, 210

Cable 207

Cairo 3, 5, 28, 32, 33, 39, 68, 69, 71

128, 138, 228, 236, 237, 246, 258, 261

266, 270

Calcite

Calf .

CambridgeCamel .

Cameleon

Canal .

Canoe .

Canopy

Cappadocia .

189,

176

188

177202

117

250

15

254

45

Captives 95, 127, 136, 172 et secj.,211

220, 238, 255, 266

(See Barbarian, Enemy, Prisoners.)

Carapacesof tortoises

Carnclian

Carnivora

Carpet.

Carving in relief

Casque

(See Crown.)

PAGE

Castanettes . . .119, 274, 277

(See Wood, sonorous.)Cattle 188

Caves . 22, 164, 205, 214, 215, 216

Cephalic index . . . .161Ceremonies, i, 71, 217, 218, 250, 282

,, religious

(See Cult.)

Ceylon .

Chabas

Chalcedony .

Chaldea

,, art .

,, cylinder

Chalk .

Chairs .

ClIAMPOLLION-FlGEAC

Charcoal

Chassinat .

Chellcan

Cheops(See Khufu.)

Chequer pattern

Child .

China .

CJiiriqui

Chronology .

Chrysocolla .

Cinders

Cingalese

Civilization .

212, 218

14

I

. 182

236, 248, 287

69, 136, 226

• 247

36

. 105

. 17

132, 133. 213. 216

. 276

. 18

270, 288

. 116

37, 168, 169

41

. 60

17 et seq.

. 169

• 133

• 14

12

Clapping of hands in cadence 273, 278

Claws

.....48, 49

Clay 21, 155, 161, 164, 169, 176, 184

199,200

„ pipe 216

Clemens of Alexandria . . 273

Cloak . . . 56 et seq., 168, 226

(See Mantle.)

Clothing . . 47, 52 et seq., 159

(See Cloak, Mantle.)

Club 211

.

48



294 INDEX.

PAGE

Colour. ... 26, 27, 213

Columbia

.....60

„ British. . . . 272

Combatants. . . . 35, 213

(See Warriors.)

Combs 37, 39, 40, 41, 72 et seq., 155

„ magic . . . 41, 66, 74

Congo .

Copper

Cop/s .

Cords . 40, 52, 63

Corpse

„ contracted

CowCrescent

Cfrie . .

1 12, igS

• 45

. 217

64, 95, 173, 243

• 239

. 218

. 188

122, 250, 254

146, 149, 164, 285

164,

I.



INDEX.295

PAGE

Mut, Neith, Nekhbet,

Osiris, Ptah, Sebek, Selkit,

Sokaris, Taurt, Thot,Thueris).

Dogs 95, 102, 153, i83etseq., 232, 270

Door .... 200, 266, 278

. 266

94, 95

195 et seq.

. 28

„ sill or socket

Double hammer .

„ bull .

Duck .

Dwarf . . . 172 et seq., 176, 220

Dyeing the hair ... 35, 36

Dyke. . .

.250Dynasty I. 5, 17, 19, 30, 42, 49, 57, 85

88, 96, 108, 146, 149, 168, 169, 173

182, 203, 230, 251, 254, 257

Dynasty II. . . .5, 255, 267

III. 4, 5, 96, 151, 261, 267

IV. I, 5, 18, 25, 28, 42, 93

96, 139, 237, 258, 264, 266, 270, 282

288, 290

Dynasty V. . . 42, 58, 105, 139, 194

203, 258, 266, 288VI. 32,97, 139, 194, 203,268

284

XII. 34, 97, 146, 149, 150, 152

184, 190, 192, 193, 230, 247, 277, 285

Dynasty XIII 149

XVIII. 96, 97, 146, 149, 150

162, 164, 176, 188, 190, 226, 276

M XIX 55

XXII 226

Eagle 142

Ear (see Deformities).

El Ahartvah .... 6

El Amrali 7, 18, 68, 88, 94, 105, 119

132, 157, 188, 200, 211, 224

El Bcrshch..... 26

El Kab or El (Jab . . . 205

Elephant 78, 82, 102, 140, 143, 202, 224

Emblems 88, 207, 208, 210, 223, 230

2 J.2

Embroidery. . 57, 159, 223, 242

Enemy, vanquished . 212, 246, 267

(See Barbarian, Captives, Prisoners.)

Engraving with the point . . 267

Ensigns .... 121, 242

(See Standards.)

Ensigns of vessels

Equidjc

(See Ass, Horse.

Erman

Esquhnaicx .

Ethiopia

European figures

Evans .

Evolution of Clothing

Ex-votos

Eyes, inlaid99, 167, 168, 173, 174, 182

197, 260

,, painted. . .

.213

I'AGE

88, 210, 230

. 211

52, 176, 274, 277

21,23. . . 287

184, 196

145, 146, 156, 285

. 52

. 228

Fan



296 INDEX.





298 INDEX.



INDEX. 299

PAGE

Mantle 52, 55, 56 et seq., 168, 243

(See Cloak.)Marble

,,blue.

Margone

Mariette .

Marks, alphabetilbrm

„ family

,, geometric

pottery 33, 133,

. 114

• 193

106

2, 4, 17

. 146

• 31

. 146

144 et seq.,

203, 206

property . .15, 65, 139, 210

,,tatoo- (see Tatooing).

„ tribal . . 15, 31, 65, 210

Marseilles . . . . -54Masd'Azil 163

Maspero 4, 17, 28, 29, 31, 42, 56, 128

163, 226, 250, 261, 270, 276, 280

Mast .

Mastabas

Mats .

Maxyes

Media .

Medinct-Habti

Mediterranca7i

121, 207, 210

. 220

55, 104, 105, 135

. 276

. no. 270

40, 114, 148

,, civilization . . 284

Medum . . . 2, 3, 4, 190

Mc7nphis 264

Men 26, 35 et seq., 45, 109, no, n7121, 123, 126, 132, 136, 138, 139, 140

154 et seq., 201, 202, 203, 205, 2net seq., 224, 243, 250, 256, 258, 267

274Menes or Mena 18, 19, 88, 179, 182

281

Mentu 220

Meri-Neith

Mersekha

Mesopotamia

Mestem .

Metal .

Mexican statue

Min

30. 31

• 254

180, 226

• 29

47. 54

160

5, 39, 88, n6, 144,222 et

seq.226, 242

Mincopies 14

Mississipi . . . . -154Moba 55

Models of ostrich eggs . . 39

(See Fortified enclosure, Houses.)

PAGE

. 206

5, n6, 126, 131. 2242 17, 274, 275

• 32

. 217

17, 273, 274, 277 et seq.

. n9, 274

• 143

• 34

181, 242

136, 150, 194, 195

(See Ornaments, Painting the body,

Tatooing.)

Myres 40

Mysteries ..... 273

Mortar.

Mountains

Mourners

Mummy of priestess

Munich

Music .

Musicians

Mut .

Mutilation

Muzzle

Mycenae

Naga-ed-Der



ôo INDEX.

Ornamentation dt \vea[)ons and

utensils .

Ornaments .

,, body .

forehead .

Ornamentation, geometrical

,,in relief

,, Mycenaean

,, symmetrica

Orpen.

Oryx .

,,beisa .

,, leucoryx

Osiris

17

15.63

46 et seq.

45

99

194

65

273

117

117- 143

254

Ostrich 117, 121, 122, 132, 202, 205, 209

217, 224, 232, 236

eggs . .

39, 40, 217

enclosures

feathers .

Owl

Ox

. 217

39' 40, 230

• 143

22J.

Oxford I-},, 25, 39, 41, 43, 63, 72, 84, 94

122, 125, 133, 140, 161, 165, 168, 172

174, 176, 178, 184, 186, 190, igi, 207

211, 224, 226, 232, 238, 255, 258, 268

Padan .

Pakhome

PalaiKjuiu

Palermo

Palettes, as amulet

incised.

81 et

slate 25, 39, 54, 78, 144,

195, 202, 224, 230, 251,

,, votive . . 226 et

Painting . 26, 199, 202 et seq.,

,, the body 21, 26etse(],

,, ,, among the

Greeks

,, ,,in pre-Mycen-

aean Greece

,, ,,

Roman generals,,

the bones of the dead

with red .

,,the eyes 23, 27 et seq.,

Palisade . . . .133,Palms . 140, 207, 208, 210, 238,

Panels, wood ....

45

107

85

seq.

192

255

seq.

214

1. J'

34

27

26

268

208

239

4

Pantomime .

Papttan.Papyrus

Paribeni

Paris .

(See Louvre.)

Patina .

Pavilion

Peacock, Taus

Pebbles, polished

Pelican

PAGE

• 277

•

15

142, 199

. 278

• 5i 33

198, 203, 217

- 254

. 1 29

. 25

. 191

Pendant 47 etse([., 51, 76 et seq. 155

195

Pepi 280

Persen 258

Pcsth ...... 32

Petrie5, 8, 18, 19, 24, 32, 36, 39, 41

43- 48, 49i 501 55. 58, 69, 71, 88, 95

97, 98, 99, loi, 108, 114, 121, 127

129, i33i 134. 139. 140. 144. 146, 147

148, 149, 152, 155, 158, 159, 161, 163

169, 176, 178, 180, 181, 182, 185, 190

193, 194, 197, 199, 203, 207, 209, 210

222, 224, 233, 255, 259, 260, 270, 275

285, 288

Petrie, Mrs 257

Petticoat ..... 52

Phacstus ..... 278

Phcvnicians . . . . 147, 148

Pictographs, Cretan . . . 146

Pictography 32, 100, 136, 229, 243, 248

PlETTE 162, 163

Pillar 212, 218

Pilot 210

Pig 189

Pins . . . 39, 41, 73, 75, 121

PlTT-RlVERS . . . .69Pitt-Kivers Collection (see Oxford).

Plaiting 116

(See Hair.)

Plants 116, 117, 126, 138, 139, 140, 142

218

,,

ofthe south

. .

.144Plaques ..... 275

glazed pottery . 32, 135

,, ivory . . 135, 251 et seq.

shell . ... 11

„ wood . . 135, 251 et seq.

Platform . . . . 250, 254



INDEX. 301

Pleyte

Pliny.

Poetry .

Poland

Polynesia7ts

Porphyry

Pottery

PAGE

• 50

. . . .

28517, 272, 280 et seq.

. 164

12, 62

93. 96

120, 133, 134, 155. 202, 270

(See Terracotta.)

Pottery, black incised 108, 149, 151, 176

285

„ black topped . 123 et seq. 140

206

„ cross-lined . . 108, 140

decorated 113 et seq., 138, 202

206, 207, 224, 230, 274

glazed 32. 47. 58- i35. 155- 169

173.176, 183, 18S, 186, 188

190, 191, 192, 256

kabyle . . 108, 114, 116

,, making, origin of . 64, 104

I.

POTTIER

rough-faced

Prayer . . . .•

Prehistoric remains (European)

. 126

.280

. 205

176

195

. 258

. 70

99, 242

31

22 1

218

PAGE

Quartz 190

OUIBELL 6, 8, 71,90,

99. 101, 134,163

178, 222, 227, 232, 270

Races 256, 283

Rahotep 3

Ram .... 95, 205, 237

Ramcsseiwi 270

Rampart 207

Ranefer 28

Red .... 26, 27, 2o()

,,

Romangenerals painted

. 27

„ Sea 203, 210, 223, 285, 287, 288

Priest of the double or Ka .

Prism .....Prisoners ....

(See Barbarian, Captives.)

Production .. . . 12 et seq.

Prophetess of Hathor . . . 3^

„ Neith .

Protecting genius

Provisions—the dead .

Ptah ....•• 33

,,in embryo .... 172

Pteroceras .... 223, 224

Public works .... 250

Punt, Poini, or /'oiinf 39, 50, 161, 162

224, 288

Tupil of the eye .... 213

Pyginics . . • . • H

Pyramid texts . 39, 275,280 et

seq.

Pyrennean paloeolitliic figures . 162

QiNG .

Ouadrupeds

Ouarries

273

74

205

Reeds .

Reinach, S.

Reisner

Rekhyt

Religion

Religious scene

Renan, Ary

RhythmRib of animal

Rickets

Rings .

„ ear .

,, finger

„ lip .

(See Anklets.)

Ritual .

Rivets .

Rock crystal

Rosettes

Rowers

Royal workshops

Rudder

Russia .

Sacramental win

Sacred rites .

Sacrifice

Saghel-el-Baglieh

.Sailing vessel

Sails of boats

Sanctuary .

Sandals

Sandwich hhvidc

Sanlorin

Sarang, Indo-Mal

128, 165, 199

214 et seq.

6

229

60, 66, 289

.- 1 —,— »

;)

. 248

61 et seq., 273, 280

. 4B

. 172

38, 49. 50

• 34

47. 51

• 35

28, 289

. 69

3. '79. 192

69, 71

o, 199, 209

. 258

207, 209

. 154

129

129

212, 221

.68

. 208

120, 121

• 254

. 249

12

109

rs

ly 52



302 INDEX.



INDEX. 303

Statuettes 21 et seq., 30, 33, 38, 56, 57

119, 155, 158, 160 et seq., 270, 274

Steatite 70, loi, 191, 277

Steatopygy . . 127, 160 et seq.

Steindorff , 8, 224, 226, 228, 248

Stela . . 200, 258 et seq., 278

Stones 49, 76, 91, 96 et seq., 155, 176

185, 186, 192, 266

hard. . 49, 95, 108, 115, 139

,,soft sandstone... 94

Stone-working

Stool ....Stoppers lor leather bottles

Strabo....Straw ....Studs for the ears

,,or toggles for cloaks

Sues ....Sulphide of antimony .

Sun worship, origin

Syenite

Symbol of divinity

,, of the king

,, religious .

Symmetry .

Syria ....Table of offerings

Tablet, ivory

Taboo .

Tails of animals

Tambourine

Tatooing

50, 96

. 105

47 et seq.

45, 210

106, 115

34,35

57.58

285

21

286

91

31

246

15, 212

62, 73

. 114

among the Greeks

at Malta

decorative

in pre-Mycenoean Greece

medical

. 270

• 203

. 216

54, 55, 230

273

3, 30et

seq.• 34

. 164

33 et seq.

,, religious

Taurt

Tchoiiktdiis .

Teeth .

Tehuti-hetepTcl-cl-Aynarna

Temples

Tendons

Terracotta .

(See Pottery.)

Tettiges

30 et seq.

70

14

48

26

32

. 221, 253, 254

. 48

176, 189, 207, 274

. 78

Tliebcs .

Tliinis .

(See Abydos.)

Thiti .

Thongs of leather

Thot .

Thothmes III

Thueris

Thrace .

Thread round the waist

Tifinagh

Tiger .

Tiles

TbniJiu

(See IJhyaiis.)

Togo .

Tombs .

(See Graves.)

TORR .

Torres Straits

Tortoise

,,shell

Totem.

Totemism .

Touaregs

ToupisTowers

Trap in shape of

Trees .

Triangles

Tribal marks

Tribute

TripoliTroglodites .

Tuat .

Tukh .

Tunis .

Ttirin .

Turkey or pelican

Tusks .

Uazu .

Unas .

Unger

Unguents

Univei-sity Colleg

Urine .

Urccus .

Utensils for grinding paint .

Uzait

PAGE

53, 173, 264

264

-.3, j^,

206 et seq., 218,

207,

79, 94,

208,

45, 147,

a wheel

117, 118, 234,

16, 122, 131, 133,

. 214,

• 275,

22 et seq.,

5. 23, 32, 35-

• 48.

e (see London).

:5

27

47

220

32

219

163

53

147

214

135

277

55

22 1

217

65

1 12

65

215220

276

28

207

210

238

224

15

255

40216

276

274

40

266

191

198

29

280

17

49

36

143

29



304INDEX.

PAGE

Vaphio goblets . • -254 War .

Vases, ivory . • • loi Warriors .

„ pottery, black incised 108, 149 Water .

151 ,. ripples

black-topped I22etseq. Weapons .

140, 206 ,,of state

with Weill. .

design in relief 122 Werner, Alice

et seq.Wcsic?-n Sudan

„ ,,cross-lined . 108, 140

„ ,,decorated 113 et seq.

202, 206, 274

in imita-

tion of hard

stones 108, 1 14, 115

„ „ of fantastic forms 126

et seq.

,, rongh faced . .126

,,white painted (red

polished)108 et seq

M

stone

Whip .

White clay .

,, paint

Whitevvasli.

Wiedemann 17, 32, 11

Wigs .

Wilkin

Wilkinson .

Window

Wolf .

W'olters

140, 206 Women 21, 23, 37, 38, 39, 40, 45, 51

96etseq.,201 et seq., 56, 57, 119, 121, 127, 160

et seq., 162, 175, 211, 213, 220,226

274, 277, 278

Wood . . . .4-54. 135. 139

,,sonorous .... 273

(.See Castanettes.)

Worshippers of Horus

. . 144

PAGE

. 217

54, 55- 99

120

. II I

• 230

. 66

148, 254, 267

. 198

• 55

140, 222

21

.

206

2, 177, 277, 285

37.42

. 7,8

17, 217

. 200

. 214

• 34

cylindrical. .

97fantastic forms 101 et seq.

. 251

14, 52

. 164

45, 46, 165

Vaulting

Veddahs

Vegetable paste .

Veil .

Vessel 250 Writing

sailing

(See Bark, Flotilla.)

Vibration 273

Vladinm' . . . 1 54

Volossovo 154

Von BissiNG 74, 108, 112, 128, 129

142, 144

Votive objects . . 66, 90 et seq. Yellow .

(See Maces, Palettes.) Yc??ich .

Vulture . . 42, 129, 142, 232

Wady-el-Shcikh .

„ Haminaffiat

Magarah

Zaborowski

51 Zer

203, 288 Zigzag .

212, 254 ZiPFELIUS .

15. 66, 142

Egyptian . . i,282

„ hieroglyph 4, 85, 88, 142 et

seq., 288

,, primitive . . 15'

(See Hieroglyphs, Inscriptions,

Marks, Pictography, Signature.)

27, 206

. 287

• 144, 205

.42, 49, 180, 182

22, 40, 109, III, 120

190. 203

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Documents

Jean Capart Primitive Art in Egypt